Apparently it’s been 25 years since Mogwai released their first single. In that time they have seen off a plethora of world events, remaining unaffected by war, famine and Britpop. But in 2019 the tides of history struck Mogwai hard astern as they were preparing to travel to the United States to record a new album with producer David Fridmann.
What that set of Trump-surrounded tracks might have sounded like we’ll never know, because Mogwai’s tenth studio album, As The Love Continues, was recorded in Worcestershire instead, with Fridmann producing remotely from the US.
With contributions from Nine Inch Nails' Atticus Ross and composer/saxophonist Colin Stetson, As The Love Continues sees Mogwai’s voyage into sound progress in a stately manner as tracks like Here We, Here We, Here We Go Forever and the misnomered Fuck Off Money tread an unlikely fine line between waft and heft.
Like ghosts in steel toe-capped boots, these tunes occupy a tough mist of their own, sometimes poppy (the jaunty Supposedly, We Were Nightmares) and sometimes very much not (the imperial To The Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth).
A very good record.
