I have to confess that I am a bit of a fanboy when it comes to Scottish musicians and bands. My fascination with all things Scottish began with Fish and Marillion (and Fish solo) in my teens, then bands like Teenage Fanclub in my early adult years, and now, deep in middle age (kind of) I’ve discovered bands like What the Blood Revealed, Frightened Rabbit, We Were Promised Jetpacks, and the subject of this review, The Twilight Sad. Their new album, ‘No One Can Ever Know’, marks a dramatic departure from the previous albums in more ways than one. Gone are the expansive, growing and building-to-climax numbers, layered soundscapes complete with squeeze box, fiddle and acoustic guitar. To quote James Graham (lead singer), ‘The wall of sound is kinda gone…’ The tempo of the songs also sometimes seems faster than what we heard on previous albums, although not upbeat or lighter in subject matter by any stretch.
