James Graham on loss, breakdown and the Twilight Sad’s new album

James Graham has endured major changes in the seven years since the last Twilight Sad album: he lost his mother to dementia, became a father and his own mental health struggles forced the band to cancel a tour with the Cure. The day he spoke about the band’s sixth album, It’s the Long Goodbye, was the anniversary of his mother’s death.

“It’s all right,” he says. It’s the Long Goodbye strips away the metaphors of earlier records and reads like a visceral diary of those years. Lead single Waiting for the Phone Call captures the dread of preparing to hear the worst over a propulsive, pummelling riff, and on Attempt a Crash Landing – Theme he sings, “And this time we’ll lose,” over crashing guitars.

The title comes from watching someone he loved slowly disappear: “It’s seven years of saying goodbye so many times,” he says. Graham reached breaking point as 2023 ended. “One morning, I woke up and I couldn’t move. I just said, ‘I can’t do this.’” Robert Smith replied immediately, “None of this matters.

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