THE TWILIGHT SAD – ATTEMPT A CRASH LANDING – THEME
Seven years is a long time to carry something. When The Twilight Sad’s last album came out in 2019, James Graham had just come off the high of touring with The Cure. Then his mother was diagnosed with early onset frontotemporal dementia. He watched her decline for years while also becoming a father — joy and grief running in parallel, neither cancelling the other out. In late 2023 his own mental health gave way and a second Cure tour had to stop. His mother died that January. ‘It’s The Long Goodbye’ was written through all of it. “Now I can map the songs that were written either at the start of the process, in the middle of the hellhole, or when my mum had died”, Graham says. “It really does document the seven years, and the hell inside my mind”.
“Attempt A Crash Landing – Theme” is the third single from the album, following “Waiting For The Phone Call” (covered in W44, featuring Robert Smith on guitar) and “Designed To Lose”. It starts withdrawn and almost fragile before guitar waves and dense arrangements pile up and discharge in a full cathartic outburst. Graham on the song: “It had to contain every element of emotion I was feeling”. The dynamic mirrors the album’s central tension: the need to hold it together in situations where holding it together isn’t really possible.
Graham writes the lyrics, Andy MacFarlane handles guitar and produced the album at Battery Studios in Willesden — a location with Cure history. The current live lineup adds David Jeans on drums (Arab Strap) and Alex Mackay on bass (Mogwai live band). Additional production came from Andy Savours (My Bloody Valentine), with mixing by Chris Coady (Slowdive). Robert Smith guests on three tracks: guitars on “Waiting For The Phone Call”, guitars and “Tron keys” on “Dead Flowers”, and six-string bass on “Back To Fourteen”. Graham has been direct about what the album means to him: “I want people to be able to listen to this record and hear that it comes from a place of raw emotion. The album is an opportunity to share my experience and move forward with my life”.
‘It’s The Long Goodbye’ is out March 27 on Rock Action Records. The band head out on a headline UK and European tour in April and May, followed by a run of dates supporting The Cure in June and July.
Tracklist:
- Get Away From It All
- Designed To Lose
- Attempt A Crash Landing – Theme
- Waiting For The Phone Call
- The Ceiling Underground
- Dead Flowers
- Inhospitable/Hospital
- Chest Wound To The Chest
- Back To Fourteen
- TV People Still Throwing TVs At People
Tour Dates Europe:
- April 12 – Milan, Italy – Legend Club
- April 14 – Zurich, Switzerland – Bogen F
- April 15 – Munich, Germany – Ampere
- April 16 – Berlin, Germany – Gretchen
- April 18 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Loppen
- April 19 – Oslo, Norway – Parkteateret
- April 20 – Stockholm, Sweden – Slaktkyrkan
- April 22 – Hamburg, Germany – Grünspan
- April 23 – Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivolivredenburg Pandora Hall
- April 25 – Cologne, Germany – Gebäude 9
- April 26 – Brussels, Belgium – Rotonde – Botanique
- April 27 – Paris, France – Le Trabendo
- April 29 – Bristol, UK – Electric Bristol
- April 30 – London, UK – Roundhouse
- May 2 – Manchester, UK – New Century Hall
- May 3 – Newcastle upon Tyne, UK – Boiler Shop
- May 5 – Glasgow, Scotland – Barrowlands
- May 6 – Glasgow, Scotland – Barrowlands
- May 9 – Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory
- June 14 – Firenze, Italy – Visarno Arena (with The Cure)
- June 24 – Cardiff, UK – Blackweir Fields (with The Cure)
- June 26 – Dublin, Ireland – Marley Park (with The Cure)
- June 28 – Belfast, UK – Belsonic (with The Cure)
- July 8 – Pohoda Festival, Slovakia (with The Cure)
- July 10 – Berlin, Germany – Wuhlheide (with The Cure)
- July 11 – Berlin, Germany – Wuhlheide (with The Cure)
- July 12 – Berlin, Germany – Wuhlheide (with The Cure)
- July 24-26 – Topcliffe, UK – Deer Shed Festival
