Bearing the uncertain honour of an ‘anti-production’ credit from Andrew Weatherall (it means general pre-recording guidance, it seems), this second album from The Twilight Sad is a surprising and substantial progression. The washes of epic, wind-tunnel guitar and richly Scots-accented vocals from singer James Graham remain (‘Not Sleeping’ is one of the few restful pieces on the record), but otherwise the discovery of post-punk and synthesisers appears to have lent a more heart-shredding, austere edge. Witness the churning Krautrock of ‘Dead City’, the glacial and monolithic ‘Nil’ and the air-punching choral highlight of ‘Don’t Look at Me’. It’s what you might call, we suspect, a definite grower – and perhaps a worthy Mercury contender nearer the time?
