Every Country's Sun

by Mogwai

Overview

Mogwai rang in their 22nd year of existence with Every Country's Sun, their first non-soundtrack album since 2014's Rave Tapes and their first without founding guitarist John Cummings. Despite the lineup change, there are no drastic differences to the band's approach, and they spend most of the album expressing the extremes of their minimalism and maximalism. They bookend the set with songs that are quintessentially Mogwai: the slow-burning opener, "Coolverine," begins with shimmering keyboards and warm bass before layers of guitar, synths, and brass take the track to the saturation point, while the deep drones and explosive guitars of "Every Country's Sun" close the album with a blaze of cathartic glory. In between, Mogwai offer cerebral pleasures like the aptly named "Brain Sweeties," a sonic sculpture that sets a circular guitar motif spinning above perpetually tumbling drums and gently arcing synths, and "aka 47," a strangely shifting mood piece for analog synth and pedal steel that reaffirms why the band's film scores are so compelling. Elsewhere, they provide more visceral satisfaction with "Party in the Dark"'s fizzy alt-rock and the seething guitar workout "Battered at a Scramble"; it's no coincidence that this track is reminiscent of Rock Action, an album that also featured Every Country's Sun producer Dave Fridmann. Just as Mogwai maintain the tension of most of these songs for as long as possible, they also save the album's biggest climaxes for last, as on the furious "Old Poisons." ~ Heather Phares

Product Details

Release Date:	10/06/2017
Label:	Temporary Residence
UPC:	0656605329147
Rank:	114276

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mogwai   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Dave Fridmann   Mixing,Producer
Mogwai   Composer
Frank Arkwright   Mastering
Matt Estep   Assistant
DLT   Design,Illustrations