7/10 Clinton 30 August 2018

If Jose Mourinho wants respect he should join Mogwai. The long running post rock collective pretty much have everyone's respect. They are good lads (and lassies now), down to earth, success hasn't made them into wankers, they follow their own path. Good luck to them. The only issue I've ever had about them is that I'm not enamoured by a lot of their music. It's only a small gripe though and at a recent concert by them I was one of only a miniscule amount of people who were a bit bored. Most people love them unconditionally.

Their last album proper 'Every Country's Sun' had about three fantastic songs on it which is three more than most bands manage but this soundtrack follow up is a very different beast. They've successfully made soundtracks before (most notably 'Zidane') and their music lends itself perfectly to the genre. It's a bit sci fi, a bit futuristic, a bit melancholic. This latest effort for the film 'Kin' is more of the same - based mostly around keyboard riffs both piano and synthesizer. Tracks like the impressive 'Flee' take the kind of soundtrack fayre of Hans Zimmer, John Carpenter and perhaps Vangelis and Mogwai-ify it - which means I suppose providing a rock band slice of dynamics to the pulsing synth patterns.

Elsewhere there's pretty piano pieces with a bit of a Radiohead feel to them ('Eli's Theme' and 'Miscreants') lots of haunting synth work ('Donuts' is especially pretty glacial in this regard) and what the album seems to do is allow Mogwai to step out of their usual comfort zone sonically. It's not so far removed from their signature sound that Mogwai fans would feel uncomfortable and (without seeing the movie to see how it fits in) the music has a feel about it that harks back to 'classic' soundtracks. A success as usual then. More respect due.