Quiet Hope
They were one of the most influential post-rock groups to emerge from the 1990s, and now Mogwai are rising above the confines of the genre with their UK No.1 album As The Love Continues. Guitarist Stuart Braithwaite tells Prog about the band’s different approach with this record and explains why he’s hopeful for the future.
Words: Alex Lynham Images: Anthony Crook
Mogwai: masters of the wall of sound.
“I think everybody feels really isolated at the moment, and especially with music, it’s such a social thing. It’s so much about human connection. It’s nice to be able to share with people what we’ve made.”
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ike many bands that have defined a genre, over time Mogwai have come to transcend it. Their widescreen, wall-of-sound anthems defined the second wave of post-rock, and, more than any other band became the template for what was to follow.
The innovation that led them to be so influential didn’t stop in the late 90s, however, and they’ve continued to push themselves since. They’ve been prolific in recent years, releasing two soundtracks – Kin and ZeroZeroZero – since the release of their last studio album, Every Country’s Sun in 2017. Their new record, As The Love Continues, shows off not just their knack for great riffs, but also for witty songtitles, with To The Bin My Friend, Tonight We Vacate Earth and album standout Fuck Off Money the highlights. “It’s a phrase that comes up when you’re talking about contracts, and it’s not ‘fuck off’ as in, really big, but ‘fuck off’ as in, just money to fuck off,” laughs guitarist Stuart Braithwaite down the phone, “I can’t actually remember which one the song is though, ’cos to be honest we only gave the songs titles a couple of weeks ago!”
Given how serious and, at times, melodramatic their music is, it’s refreshing that the band don’t take themselves too seriously. This dry sense of humour and bemusement pervades not only Braithwaite’s approach to talking about their music, but also the music itself. Even in the depths of one of the strangest years anybody can remember, Braithwaite talks of the feeling of “hopefulness” he’s trying to impart with his compositions on the new album, and that releasing music – in this case, lead single Dry Fantasy –is something of a triumph in the face of adversity.