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.