说起苏格兰，人们或许会想起风笛与格子短裙背后的厚重历史，阴雨连绵下城堡高地的凄美壮丽，或是《猜火车》式的青年厌世与骚动。然而不得不提的同样还有苏格兰在独立音乐史的上熠熠闪光：The Jesus and Mary Chain、Primal Scream、Cocteau Twins、Travis、Franz Ferdinand……而现在，The Twilight Sad这个名字同样也不容忽视——他们是The Cure主唱Robert Smith口中最喜爱的乐队：“如果这是一个更好的世界，他们会被更多人听到，我相信他们能做到。”

乐队的名字出自英国诗人Wilfred Owen的诗《But I Was Looking At The Permanent Stars》中的一句：“Sleep mothered them; and left the twilight sad.”其中蕴含的意义——“暮光”、“悲伤”——似乎与这个冰河世纪最 后一个据点的浪漫与粗犷不谋而合。

 

 

The Twilight Sad乐队成立于2003年，由James Graham，Andy MacFarlane，Johnny Docherty，Brendan Smith和Sebastien Schultz组成。乐队成员在学校结识，音乐的共鸣将他们的命运联系在一起。乐队擅长在后朋克基调之上蒙上一层盯鞋式的噪音，主唱James Graham浓重的苏格兰口音和Andy MacFarlane沉厚的吉他音墙可以说是乐队的标识。在制作精良的录音室专辑和一系列世界巡演的推动之下，乐队并成为评论家眼中的宠儿，不断走入更多的乐迷视野。

 

 

The Twilight Sad的履历中不得不提的是那一段与The Cure重合的轨迹，两者的交集要从2015年Robert Smith翻唱他们2014年的专辑《Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave》中的“There's A Girl In The Corner”开始，2016年，The Twilight Sad受邀成为The Cure北美以及欧洲巡演的暖场乐队。两支同样以情绪驱动的乐队，尽管隔了好几个时代，却仿佛一脉相承。这段同行的经历让他们感到几近不真实，但也让乐队得以在The Cure的肩膀上看到了未来的无 限可能。

 

 

2018年，乐队宣布签约Mogwai的厂牌 Rock Action Records，并在2019年发行了第五张专辑《It Won/t Be Like This All the Time》。这张专辑仿佛是乐队沉淀多年的艺术宣言，融合了乐队之前作品中的轰鸣音墙、电子气息和诚挚情感，创造出一种更加明亮而充满力量感的后朋克质感；与此同时，蜕去大量的修辞外壳，James Graham的歌词在这张专辑中变得更加直白坦率，如单曲“I/m Not Here [missing face]”中表达的自我厌恶和辜负所爱之人的沮丧与痛苦，除此之外也有像“VTr”中“There's no love too small”这样充满希望的信息。

 

 

乐队将自己的风格形容为“带着层层噪音的民谣”，因为他们歌中叙述的都是自身的经历或是身边人的故事。与此同时，他们致力于保留苏格兰的特色，将故土的气质融合进他们的音乐分享给更多人。此外，他们喜欢制造演出与录音专辑之间的反差，通过现场激烈的噪音声墙带来更直接的听觉震撼。

 

 

From their unassuming origins as a group of school friends drawn together by a shared passion for music to the global touring force they have quietly become, The Twilight Sad’s ascent has been forged the old way with grit, graft and four exceptional studio albums, noting the experimental creativity of Graham's sincere lyrics, thick Scottish accent and MacFarlane's dense sonic walls of shoegazing guitar.

Their course was altered by a new alliance with The Cure which began in earnest with Robert Smith’s stirring cover of ‘There’s a Girl in the Corner” in 2015. Two emotionally charged groups, generations apart yet undeniably cut from similar cloth.

As sliding doors moments go, this was fate shaping material. It’s no understatement to say that The Cure’s mentorship has set the band on a trajectory we are yet to feel the full force of. Having scaled new heights on what ultimately became a year-long transcontinental trek with their idols, the band were uniquely placed to sketch out their intent for the next chapter.

Where the band's recorded sound is layered with many melodies, their live sound is a more intense experience with a more visceral wall of noise, something the band wanted to do all along. Graham stated, "We like having the contrast between the record and playing live. ”