Album Review: Mogwai, Kin

Mogwai and film are no strangers. Since their sounds have complemented Zinedine Zidane’s balletic magnificence on A 21st Century Portrait in 2006, they’ve done work on Les Revenants and collaborated with Trent Reznor on the Fisher Stevens doc, Before The Flood.
Post-rock lends itself naturally to scores, you’d think – but you’ll find many bands are in the genre by default, because they don’t know how to write actual chord progressions or hooks. Not so with Mogwai. Indeed one of the highlights here is ‘We’re Not Done’, the end-title tune – a shoegazing pop number that Slowdive would be proud of.
It’s the only one with a conventional song structure, but demonstrates that Mogwai’s prowess at deconstruction comes directly from their ability to construct. Kin is a sci-fi romp about a futuristic superweapon and the compositions here are suitably spacey – not a million miles from fellow post-rock luminaries 65daysofstatic’s No Man’s Sky soundtrack, particularly on the glitchy arpeggi of ‘Flee’.
There’s a level of restraint evident on the likes of ‘Donuts’ and ‘Guns Down’, demonstrating that Mogwai are not here to overwhelm or be stars of the show – and the songs are all the more satisfying for it. At All Together now, guitarist Stuart Braithwaite told the Hot Press Speakeasy that Kin contains some of his favourite Mogwai pieces yet. True fans will agree.

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