Release Date: 27 March 2026
Song Count: 10
Duration: 48 minutes, 53 seconds
Rating: 8.3/10
Description:
Song Count: 10
Duration: 48 minutes, 53 seconds
Rating: 8.3/10
Description:
We arrive at the home turf of Scottish indie rock band The Twilight Sad, a project heavily inspired by the musical goth and punk scenes during their dawn and prime, as is evident through their output. Their brand new endeavour, IT'S THE LONG GOODBYE, has already seen a noticeable portion of love and chart success in spite of its still short time out as of writing, and jumping into what the album entails, it becomes easy to see why that is. There seems to be a sort of demand for this style of music that echoes the sound of past times whilst putting a fresh spin on it, and this LP seems to fulfil exactly these criteria for many.
Melodic yet distorted electric guitars swerve across the full runtime - combined with some elongated, distant feeling keys and synths - as a mixture of musicality with a dark tinge akin to gothic rock and foggy noise takes centre stage. In the middle of it all sounds the voice of James Graham playing a supportive part in the entire composition while also standing out thanks to his very thick accent coming through every time he sings. There is generally plenty of character and a unique soundscape being built up here that defies all expectations one could make, whether it be through the highly colourful cover art or deceptive simplicity of the inspirations being drawn.
Though the re-listenability of a lot of these tracks varies significantly enough to make an impact, the whole experience generally skews positively, taking in the listener more through the general atmosphere of both shaded mystery and vulnerability rather than any one aspect standing out. Particular songs are nevertheless worth highlighting as the symbolic pinnacle of their work, such as the opener "GET AWAY FROM IT ALL", "ATTEMPT A CRASH LANDING - THEME" and the closer "TV PEOPLE STILL THROWING TVS AT PEOPLE", all providing the most memorable hooks of the album and representing its best qualities immaculately. Overall an impressive record from a band with a lot to prove that has thoroughly reached its aim and more.