James Graham (The Twilight Sad) with Rachel Goswell (Slowdive)

About this episode

James Graham and Rachel Goswell engage in a deep conversation about loss and mental health, reflecting on their personal experiences and music careers.

On this week's Talkhouse Podcast, we've got an intense conversation between two friends about loss, mental health, and more: It's James Graham and Rachel Goswell. Graham is the singer and lyricist of the Scottish band the Twilight Sad, whose first full-length came out back in 2007, and who were part of a scene that included their friends in Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks—the common thread being intense, emotional, heart-on-the-sleeve rock songs. They chugged along for a while there, making great records, and were eventually kind of taken under the wing of the Cure's Robert Smith, who loved their music so much that the Twilight Sad has become the Cure's default opening band. But life hit Graham pretty hard over the past decade, with a seven-year stretch that included losing his mother to dementia and a bout of his own with mental illness. Graham eventually began writing songs about it, and the result is the first Twilight Sad record in seven years, called It's The Long Goodbye. It's not necessarily an easy listen, but it's worth it. Check out "Chest Wound to the Chest" right here. The other half of today's conversation is Rachel Goswell, best known as the singer…

People in this episode

Guests: James Graham, Rachel Goswell

Topics covered

• loss
• mental health
• music
• friendship
• songwriting

Keywords

• Twilight Sad
• Slowdive
• mental illness
• music industry
• emotional rock

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Twilight Sad, Slowdive, Frightened Rabbit, We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Cure

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