release date: Sep. 2008
format: digital (10 x File, MP3)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Andy Miller
label: Wall Of Sound / [PIAS] Entertainment Group - nationality: Scotland, UK
Track highlights: 1. "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead" - 2. "Batcat" - 3. "Danphe and the Brain" - 5. "The Sun Smells Too Loud" - 10. "The Precipice"
6th studio album by Mogwai following 2½ years after Mr. Beast (Mar. 2006) and 2 years after the two soundtrack albums Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait - a documentary for which Mogwai exclusively made the music score - and The Fountain - a fictional film by Darren Aronofsky with musical score composed by Clint Mansell and music written in collaboration with Mansell, Mogwai, and The Kronos Quartet.
The Hawk Is Howling comes with 10 brand new compositions and a total of 63 minutes of playing time that doesn't add much new to the band's discography - neither in terms of stylistic improvements, nor in adding great compositions to the band's vast tracklist. The track Batcat was chosen for ep release in a slightly alternate version together with two other compositions (released Sep. 2008) including one song with lyrics by Roky Erickson. It's as if they try to relaunch themselves by looking slightly too much in the rearview mirror. There are certainly elements from their first albums out with soft / hard, or slow / fast contrapositioning together with piano / electronic parts, and at the same time a few new albeit out-of context of the full experience we hear temptations of more traditionally 4-4 metric composed songs and something that could be inspired by say Sigur Rós, but everything just sounds too familiar. Perhaps they have been inspired or provoked by their experiences in making two soundtrack albums 'cause they throw in long bits of ambient-like harmonies, and also turn to noise rock metal but don't really succeed well in establishing a coherent whole - perhaps for the first time they really lack consistency. That said, the album still contains some really fine music and Mogwai never sound like anyone else.
Not recommended.
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