Pride and Joy As they prepare to release their fifth studio album, It Won/t Be Like This All the Time, The Twilight Sad’s James Graham talks to The Skinny about one of the band’s most tumultuous and eventful years yet Interview: Susan Le May
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Photo: Debi Del Grande
ast year The Twilight Sad were preparing the follow-up to 2014’s incredible Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave, the record that piqued the interest of none other than The Cure’s Robert Smith. The band augmented their line-up with long-time contributors Brendan Smith and Johnny Docherty, adding Sebastien Schultz on drums after the departure of Mark Devine. Singer James Graham became a father in May, and days later lost one of his closest friends and most important musical brethren. Shortly after the passing of Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison, The Twilight Sad returned with a live set at Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona. It was one of the most powerful and heartbreaking performances they’ve ever given. “The crowd were amazing that day,” recalls Graham. “If I’m really feeling it, if I’m struggling, the crowds have been getting us through it big time, and that’s every night, but none more so than that gig. That was a real marker point of knowing we’re not in it alone, there are people that know who we are and care about it. It was eye-opening.” Graham admits to being petrified. It was the group’s first show in two years, the first with all new members in place (alongside himself and Andy MacFarlane), new songs and new equipment. But, most importantly, it was the first time they’d played Keep Yourself Warm, a Frabbit cover that has taken on so much weight – now the anthem for a communal heartbreak, a sign of hope that something carries on amidst the sadness. “That was the major worry for me, just making sure we did it proud,” Graham says. “I know how I reacted and I can’t imagine that’s an easy [performance] for anybody to watch if they know me and they know Frightened Rabbit and they know what it means. The whole point was to keep singing Scott’s songs but to also show people that it’s alright to feel that way. If I can go up on a stage like that and let it out, I think it showed people that you shouldn’t be ashamed to show your emotions, to tell people, to talk. That’s the thing that I’m taking away from all of this, is that we need to be more open with each other.” Over the following months, it became a staple in the set, each performance more enchanting and gut-wrenching than the last. The band toured for months in the US and Europe, to bigger and more enthusiastic crowds than ever before. Repeatedly Graham would exorcise the still-raw pain of his loss on stage, while his young family were home in Scotland or making brief visits at points along the road. It’s little wonder he’s exhausted, as he relaxes at home in Glasgow with his wife and son for the first time in months. It’s nearly Christmas and it’s the calm before the storm of the new album coming out. The forthcoming weekend, he’s performing with Frightened Rabbit at the Glasgow leg of charity event Sleep in the Park – it’s the first time Frightened Rabbit will have played since the devastating departure of their singer and chief songwriter. “I know a little bit how it’s going to feel but it’s going to be times a million because I’ll look round and I’ll see Grant [Hutchison], Billy [Kennedy] and Andy [Monaghan],” he says. “We rehearsed Keep Yourself Warm when we were in the rehearsal studio and that was very hard but
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