The Twilight Sad
Òran Mòr Session
Release Date: Oct 16, 2015
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Fat Cat
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Album Review: Òran Mòr Session by The Twilight Sad
Very Good, Based on 6 Critics
Based on rating 10/10
I think it would be accurate to say we quite liked the last studio album from The Twilight Sad. Nobody Wants To Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave earned a rare 10/10 from us, a score that I agreed with if I approach purely from the point of a listener and a reader. It makes sense as an album, is made for quite specific moods and is the sort of record you go back to after months and start telling everyone how good it is all over again.
Based on rating 7.5/10
Nobody Wants To Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave was a subtle but significant step forward for The Twilight Sad last year. This expanded version of their previously tour-only EP, recorded in Glasgow’s Òran Mór auditorium, strips back the skin to show the bones of the trio’s rejuvenation. Discussing in interviews how Nobody Wants To Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave came together, the 'Sad made it sound as if they were nearly ready to call it a day before ultimately regrouping and seeing the album through.
Based on rating 7.5/10
As reputations go, The Twilight Sad's is as loud as they come. Since the release of their debut LP 14 Autumns & 15 Winters, the Scottish ensemble have earned a reputation for their ear-canal-crushing compositions. Yet beneath this deafening veneer lies the sentimental songwriting of James Graham, whose introspective paeans cement-—yet contradict—the band's thunderstorm of instrument.
Based on rating 3
Last year’s excellent Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave, The Twilight Sad’s fourth studio album, marked a return to form for the much overlooked Scottish three-piece. With the collection benefitting from a foreboding atmosphere, it was no surprise to see it acquiring plenty of high praise; the Òran Mór Session LP sees the band mostly revisit the same songs for reworked, stripped-back versions. When band’s release album’s such as acoustic versions of their songs (see Band Of Horses’ Acoustic At The Ryman from 2014, or going back further, The Cure’s Greatest Hits bonus disc of sparse versions of their hit singles) it’s fair to ask the question, why? Even the best songs in any band’s catalogue usually fall short when stripped down, compared to their full versions.
Based on rating 5.5/10
Head here to submit your own review of this album. A surprise contender in numerous 'Best Of 2014' polls last year, The Twilight Sad make the most of their sudden forward momentum with a live album re-working many of that record's miserabilist-brutalist highlights. No One Wants To Be Here and No One Wants To Leave achieved remarkable critical acclaim for an album that felt willingly coagulated - a splattered wretch of black bile and gotten-goat.
Opinion: Fairly Good
The Upshot: Haunting lyrics that are pronounced and poignant for songs even more somber, the live album features stripped down versions of previously recorded material originally released as a limited edition. Originally recorded and self-released in limited number in 2014 while on tour for fourth release, Nobody Wants To Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave, this live album features stripped down versions of previously recorded tracks. Known for their wall of sound filled with overdriven guitar and saturated synths, Oran Mor Session is a sonic departure for The Twilight Sad.
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