release date: Sep. 1, 2017
format: digital (11 x File, FLAC - TRR291CD)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: Dave Fridmann
label: Temporary Residence Limited - nationality: Scotland, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Coolverine" - 2. "Party in the Dark" - 3. "Brain Sweeties" - 4. "Crossing the Road Material" (live on KEXP) - 8. "Don’t Believe the Fife" (live on KEXP) - 9. "Battered at the Scramble"
9th studio album by Mogwai following 3½ years after Rave Tapes (Jan. 2014) and 1½ years after the soundtrack album Atomic (Apr. 2016). It's Mogwai's first studio album since the departure of founding member John Cummings, and it's made with producer Dave Fridmann who also produced the band's third album Rock Action (2001), and with that in mind it may signal an attempt to bring back some of the magic from their past. It's 11 new compositions ranging from 4 to 7 minutes with a total running time just under an hour.
And what is back is the dynamics of slow / fast and soft / hard, only not in mere old-time guitar-dominant fashion but in concordance with their musical growth through ambient and electronic stages.
The album was not an immediate favourite, but I have come to see it as a much more complex work, which combines and evolves - and ultimately: points to a new phase of glorious music. The album was well-received in the UK securing the band another top-10 entry with the band's so far highest charting album at number #6 on the albums chart list.
Recommended.
[ bandcamp ]
