âStill overwhelmingâ â Pitchfork
The Twilight Sad announce details of their new long-player âNo One Can Ever Knowâ, the follow-up to 2009âs acclaimed break-through âForget The Night Aheadâ. âNo One Can Ever Knowâ is released across all formats on 6th February 2012, full tracklist as follows: âAlphabetâ/ âDead Cityâ/ âSickâ/ âDonât Moveâ/ âNilâ/ âDonât Look At Meâ/ âNot Sleepingâ/ âAnother Bedâ/ âKill It In The Morningâ.
Already flagged by the widely leaked âKill It In The Morningâ and forthcoming first single proper, âSickâ (November 14th), âNo One Can Ever Knowâ marks a sonic shift for The Twilight Sad. Freshly inspired by a listening diet of Caberet Voltaire, Liars, Magazine, Autechre, Banshees, Fad Gadget, PiL and Can, a synth-heavy sound characterizes âNo One Can Ever Knowâ, a record thematically akin to âHoly Bibleâ era Manics, âViolatorâ-era Depeche Mode and âThe Downward Spiralâ -era Nine Inch Nails.
âWe wanted to be a lot more spontaneous, get outside our comfort zone - not to fall back into repeating what we've done previouslyâ, explains guitarist Andy MacFarlane. âSo we moved to London for a month to record at The Pool and got Andrew Weatherall involved to bounce ideas off and to generally reassure us of the direction we were already progressing in â toward a sparser sound, with a colder, slightly militant feel.â
Under the guidance of Weatherall the band experimented with vintage analogue synths - borrowed from Ben Hillier â to work on the core sounds they wanted, finding inspiration too in the distinctive production style of innovators like Martin Hannett and Conny Plank. For the first time the drums were also recorded separately utilising a lot of synthetic effects which allowed for the easy manipulation of the sounds and samples later in the process. Stylistically, the guitars tend to refract John McGeogh (Magazine/ Banshees) or Keith Levene (PiL) rather than the 'wall of sound' approach that defined The Twilight Sadâs previous recordings.
Lyrically âNo One Can Ever Knowâ finds singer James Graham on typically ominous form, delivering lightning bolts of malevolent threat. âIâll find you - donât worryâ he promises on forthcoming single, âAnother Bedâ - The Twilight Sadâs most radical and anthemic moment yet, itâs driving disco motorik and glacial keys pushing a dizzy emotional uplift.
Nationwide dates in November:
13 Sun DUNDEE Doghouse
14 Mon ABERDEEN Tunnels
15 Tue INVERNESS Ironworks
16 Wed EDINBURGH Bongo Club
18 Fri GLASGOW Sleazys
19 Sat PRESTON Mad Ferret
20 Sun YORK Duchess
21 Mon LONDON Borderline
22 Tue OXFORD Jericho
23 Wed LEICESTER Firebug
24 Thu HULL Adelphi
25 Fri STIRLING Tolbooth
www.thetwilightsad.com
Lyrics - James Alexander Graham
Music - Andy MacFarlane
Drums/Programming - Mark Devine
Produced by The Twilight Sad
Anti-Produced by Andrew Weatherall
Engineering, Mix & Additional Production: Jim Anderson
Recorded & Mixed in London, January - March 2011