Music Albums

Written By: Akhil Sood

Mogwai can be very infuriating at times. In between seemingly ordinary songs, they have a tendency of suddenly shifting gears and hitting those exact notes which will transport the listener to a different realm of being. It’s not a higher level of understanding, just a happier place; a place where you’re at ease even if things don’t always make complete sense. For this writer, the realization came halfway through the up-tempo and groovy “San Pedro,” the fifth song on the album, when an ethereal guitar melody steadily builds up, before enveloping the entire song, and the world around.

Mogwai have developed and honed their unique sound - classified, for the sake of convenience, as simply ‘post-rock’ - over a period of 15 years and seven full-length albums. And on Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, they are going for a consistent evolution to their sound instead of a radical overhaul. The results remain impeccable as ever, with opener “White Noise” establishing their trademark auditory landscapes immediately with sculpted guitar harmonies and fragile melodies driven on by a sedate rhythm section, with the drums frequently breaking out into frenetic thumping to break the monotony and add a sense of anxiety.

What sticks out in this album is the grandeur of design – there is an epic sensation that floats from song to song, lending the feel of a sprawling work of art spanning several moods and emotions. While largely instrumental, Mogwai do utilize textured vocals on “Mexican Grand Prix”, and “George Square Thatcher Death Party”, to add a slight - if a little distracting - transition from the more expansive experiments that dominate the album. Parity is restored with “How to be a Werewolf”, a signature Mogwai track if ever there was one, with layers of keyboards and guitars developing a surreal atmosphere, before the drums kick in to depart from the established themes, adding a groovier, fun-filled punch to the proceedings. The album departs on a delicately somber note, with eight-minute epic, “You’re Lionel Ritchie”, which reels in memories of their song “Black Spider” towards the end as the band signs off with a heroic embrace.

The thing with Mogwai is that at their very core lies a profound sense of melody. Beneath the experimenting and the multiple layers of sound is an emotional depth to their songwriting which inevitably ends up making their music deeply personal and endearing. And the best part is – the songs will inevitably grow on you like cancer, leading to a long-drawn and fulfilling affair with any new release by the band, much like this one.

Rating: 4 out of 5