Early 2012. Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap and James Graham of The Twilight Sad announce a collaboration. It’d be a bit of an understatement to say that I was excited by the prospect.
The announcement actually came a few months after the release of a single, Killing This Time, on Rock Action Records (owned and run by Mogwai), credited to James Graham and ‘someone else’, although the talk around the Glasgow music scene was that Aidan Moffat had supplied the music.
The album, These Actions Cannot Be Undone, was released in May 2022. Ten songs….nine of which James takes lead vocal and one on which Aidan does.
Maybe my expectations were far too much, but the album proved to be a bit of a letdown, albeit it has a few moments dotted throughout that act as a reminder of just how talented the duo are. Looking back, I maybe should have realised what was on offer thanks to this extract from an NME interview in advance of the album’s release:-
“I love being in The Twilight Sad, (said James). I’ll write with Andy [MacFarlane, Twilight Sad guitarist] for the rest of my life, but I wanted to see what else I could do, and push it as far as I possibly could, Then Aidan said: ‘Aye, I’ve got some stuff!’”
Moffat had recently finished work on Arab Strap’s most recent acclaimed album ‘As Days Get Dark’. “After a big album with a lot of words in it, I get sick of my own voice, so I tend to retreat a little bit and do instrumental stuff. It was pure serendipity that James was looking to do something that way.”
He began sending music to Graham for him to add vocals, with a focus on pushing boundaries. “We had an unspoken rule, that if we hadn’t done something before we should definitely try it, which is why James is trying all manner of vocal gymnastics”.
New single ‘Face To Fire (After Nyman)’ is based around a thumping dance beat. “It’s reflecting that we both tend to listen to pop music more than people would think,” Moffat revealed. “We have all these ideas that we probably couldn’t do with the other music we make.”
The track, like the rest of the album, constantly shifts in tone – taking in a wild opening riff that recalls AC/DC‘s ‘Thunderstruck’, and a middle section inspired by the minimalist composer Michael Nyman. “When I sent it over to James I thought he’d never go for it!” Moffat admitted. “Then by complete surprise he sent me back the perfect song. It’s always been my dream in life to do an AC/DC-Michael Nyman crossover song about mental health issues. It’s win win all round!”
mp3: Gentle Sinners – Face To Fire (After Nyman)
Thankfully, Aidan returned to full form with Arab Strap’s eighth studio album, I’m Totally Fine With It Don’t Give A Fuck Anymore, released in May 2024 and one of my records of that year. Still waiting on The Twilight Sad issuing a follow-up to 2019’s It Won’t Be Like This All The Time.
JC
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 