The Twilight Sad have shared a live cover of Frightened Rabbit‘s ‘Keep Yourself Warm’.
The song was recorded on the band’s recent European tour supporting The Cure and will be released exclusively on Bandcamp on a pay-what-you-want basis. All proceeds will go to Tiny Changes, the charity set up by the family of late Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison.
Hutchison died by suicide in May 2018, and Tiny Changes was set up in his memory. As The Twilight Sad explained in an Instagram post, the organisation “raises funds to invest in projects across Scotland by organisations with innovative ideas working hard to support the mental health of children and young people”.
Since then, The Twilight Sad have frequently performed the song live to honour him, which they have said they endeavour to continue doing. They first covered ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ at Primavera 2018 just weeks after Hutchison’s passing.
You can check out and download the cover of ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ here.
Hutchison’s brother Grant, who joined The Twilight Sad as its drummer following the disbandment of Frightened Rabbit, took to Instagram to have his say on the cover. “Still getting to play this song and hear Scott’s lyrics sung with the same passion as he did has been an incredible thing,” he wrote.
“It’s hard to describe how much @thetwilightsad means to me but the space those people and their music hold in my heart is infinite. This is how we keep Scott’s stories alive and this is how we teach youngsters about taking drugs and fucking…”
Speaking to NME about covering the song in 2018, frontman James Graham said: “We have been playing ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ and I’ve bawled my eyes out and probably will again, but even if there’s one person in the crowd who loved Scott then it’s worth it. I don’t know if other people have had the release that we’ve been able to have. If they see me being a bawling mess on stage, then maybe they’ll realise it’s OK to release these feelings.
“You can not keep this shit inside. After what’s happened with Scott, it proves that you’ve got to share things with each other. It’s never going to get easy. We phone each other and speak about it every day now and it doesn’t feel real at all, but we’ve got a platform to sing Scott’s songs. If we don’t do that, then shame on us. That song’s in our set forever now.”
Speaking to NME about Tiny Changes in 2019, Grant Hutchison said: “Young people need a lot of help and attention, and it’s something that affects almost everybody. Not every young person will suffer from poor mental health, but our approach is a preventative one. We want to give them the tools and the skills to deal with it, even when they’re at a point when they don’t need them.”
He went on: “The lack of understanding is the main thing I’ve been surprised by. I haven’t suffered in the same way that Scott did or in the way that a lot of the people that we will be helping have, and it’s an almost impossible thing to wrap your head around if you haven’t felt those emotions – but, it doesn’t take a lot to try and empathise, even if you can’t fully comprehend it.”
Meanwhile, Frightened Rabbit are set to reissue their 2013 album ‘Pedestrian Verse’ for its 10th anniversary next week in a range of vinyl options. Additionally, fans will be able to purchase a reprint of late vocalist Scott Hutchison’s original lyric notebook from the time the record was being made.
For help and advice on mental health:
- ‘Am I depressed?‘ – Help and advice on mental health and what to do next
- Help Musicians UK – Around the clock mental health support and advice for musicians
- Music Support Org – Help and support for musicians struggling with alcoholism, addiction, or mental health issues
- YOUNG MINDS – The voice for young people’s health and wellbeing
- CALM – The Campaign Against Living Miserably for young men
- Time To Change – Let’s end mental health discrimination
- The Samaritans – Confidential support 24 hours a day