The Twilight Sad – Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave

When The Twilight Sad stormed into our hearts with their haunted, haunting debut EP, few could’ve detected their nascent crossover impulse. While their output since has hardly dived into the mainstream, it’s at least true that the Kilsyth trio sound, with each release, newly evolved and streamlined, propelled by a synth-driven switch-up that’s perhaps alienated a small element of their fanbase – one they needn’t miss.

On album four the band limber up and shoot for the sky, albeit on a cloudy day. There are concessions to the anthemic (Drown So I Can Watch) and pounding minor-key thrillers (I Could Give You All That You Don’t Want) but rumours of a new accessibility have been exaggerated, largely because the Sad remain pathological gloomsters with nary a silver-lining to hang a chorus on. This should trouble nobody, give or take their psychologists.

Like predecessor No One Can Ever Know, the album buries dark treasures in bleak haze, a sequence of gentle revelations that emerge with shyness but linger indefinitely. And while songs like Last January are determinedly direct, Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave is mostly concerned with consolidating the band’s under-appreciated riches. A miserable success. [Jazz Monroe]