A Year of Vinyl

Attacking my collection, one record at a time

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Lists
  • Guides
  • Non-sequitor
  • About
  • Random Post
Search

Record #595: Mogwai – Every Country’s Sun (2017)

April 24, 2019February 27, 2020 / Nathaniel FitzGerald

Twenty years is an awful long time for any band to stay together. It’s even longer for a band how has been criticized for remaking the same record over and over again.

But twenty years after releasing their stunning Young Team, Mogwai released their most essential record in over a decade.

After eight studio albums, a number of soundtracks, and countless EPs and remixes, a new Mogwai record might seem a little unnecessary. After all, how much can you really say with (mostly) instrumental post rock that they haven’t already said before?

But Every Country’s Sun doesn’t play like a band that’s run out of things to say. On the contrary. This record feels like their most essential record in years (Pitchfork even gave it a 7.6! The highest score since 2001’s Rock Action).

Coming off of a string of soundtracks and the subdued electronica album Rave Tapes, Every Country’s Sun finds the band flexing their muscles for the first time since 2011’s Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will. Late-album cut “Old Poisons” is as riffy and heavy as anything they’ve ever done. The lead single, “Party In the Dark,” is easily one of the best pop songs of their career. “Crossing the Road Material” oscillates between bouncing synth and anthemic, explosive electric guitar cacophony.

But what makes this record stand out is the maturity in their craftsmanship—a natural byproduct of their twenty years together. They weave through moods and styles like partners whose familiarity with one another almost borders on precognizance. As epic and impressive as these compositions are, the group is effortless. The group speaks these tones as fluently as their native language, and these songs feel like several conversations put to tape.

“Coolverine” opens the record, exposing the jubilant synth loop that runs covertly under a mournful, desperate groove of chiming guitars and skittering drums. The track blossoms and unfolds, adding layer upon layer until it crashes under its own weight. It’s an old trick—and one that Mogwai invented. But it sounds as fresh now as it did when we first heard “Yes! I Am A Long Way From Home.” “Brain Sweeties” pairs droning synths with an anthemic, marching drumbeat like it’s heralding the coming of some great army. “1000 Foot Face” might be the most beautiful ballad of their career. Layers of reverb-soaked voices pile on top of a delicate collection of guitar lines, keyboard noises, and a gentle, pounding floor tom. If the voices were an octave higher, it might pass for a Bon Iver track.

None of this is entirely new in Mogwai’s diverse palate, of course. But using that as a criticism is sort of like criticizing Vonnegut for writing another book in English. These have always been the brushes and colors they use to craft a narrative.

But what’s most impressive is that after twenty years, they can use that language to create an album that one could reasonably argue is their best work ever. And even if it’s not, it might just be my favorite.

Reviews
mogwai, post metal, Post Rock

Post navigation

← Record #594: Mogwai – Rave Tapes (2014)
Record #596: Mono – Hymn to the Immortal Wind (2009) →

Archive

  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012

Archives

Categories

  • Deep Dives
  • Guides
  • Lists
  • Non-sequitor
  • Reviews
Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Hemingway Rewritten by Anders Norén.