Mogwai to release Atomic this April
Mogwai recently debuted Ether, the second track to be lifted from their forthcoming new album Atomic, due for release on Friday 1st April, on CD, double gatefold LP and digital formats. The album is composed of reworked versions of the music recorded for the soundtrack to director Mark Cousin’s acclaimed documentary Atomic: Living In Dread and Promise, which first aired on BBC Four last summer.
Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite says: “Mark’s film captures both the horror and beauty of the atomic age. Ever since we went to Hiroshima this has been a subject very close to us. Ether is the first song on the album and soundtracks the opening and most optimistic part of the film. We tried to mirror that with the music. The soundtrack is one of the most intense and fulfilling projects we've taken on as a band, and one that I’m extremely proud of.”
Constructed entirely of archive film, Atomic is an impressionistic kaleidoscope of our nuclear times, from protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima to x-rays and MRI scans. Mogwai’s soundtrack encapsulates the nightmare of the nuclear age, but its dreamlike qualities too, and features performances from Robin Proper-Sheppard, long time collaborator Luke Sutherland and Robert Newth, who plays French horn on Ether. It is the latest in the band’s series of impressive soundtracks and scores, following acclaimed albums Les Revenants (The Returned) and Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait.
Mogwai will perform Atomic live at Donaufestival, Krems, Austria on Sunday 1st May, with more live shows to be announced shortly.
Mogwai - Atomic tracklisting
Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite says: “Mark’s film captures both the horror and beauty of the atomic age. Ever since we went to Hiroshima this has been a subject very close to us. Ether is the first song on the album and soundtracks the opening and most optimistic part of the film. We tried to mirror that with the music. The soundtrack is one of the most intense and fulfilling projects we've taken on as a band, and one that I’m extremely proud of.”
Constructed entirely of archive film, Atomic is an impressionistic kaleidoscope of our nuclear times, from protest marches, Cold War sabre-rattling, Chernobyl and Fukishima to x-rays and MRI scans. Mogwai’s soundtrack encapsulates the nightmare of the nuclear age, but its dreamlike qualities too, and features performances from Robin Proper-Sheppard, long time collaborator Luke Sutherland and Robert Newth, who plays French horn on Ether. It is the latest in the band’s series of impressive soundtracks and scores, following acclaimed albums Les Revenants (The Returned) and Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait.
Mogwai will perform Atomic live at Donaufestival, Krems, Austria on Sunday 1st May, with more live shows to be announced shortly.
Mogwai - Atomic tracklisting
1. Ether
2. SCRAM
3. Bitterness Centrifuge
4. U-235
5. Pripyat
6. Weak Force
7. Little Boy
8. Are You A Dancer?
9. Tzar
10. Fat Man
Mogwai are Dominic Aitchison (bass), Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Martin Bulloch (drums) and Barry Burns (keyboard, computer, guitar). Formed in Glasgow in 1995, the band last year celebrated their 20th anniversary with the release of a 3xCD / 6xLP box set Central Belters and a run of acclaimed sell-out shows at Glasgow Barrowlands and London’s Roundhouse last June. The latter formed part of an ATP season of Mogwai-curated shows at the iconic London venue, for which they hand-picked a line-up of seminal artists that have challenged, intrigued and inspired over the past two decades, including Public Enemy, GZA, Godspeed You! Black Emperor & The Jesus & Mary Chain. Further 20th anniversary celebrations include a collaboration with Focus Scotland on a series of limited edition skateboard decks and t-shirts.
2. SCRAM
3. Bitterness Centrifuge
4. U-235
5. Pripyat
6. Weak Force
7. Little Boy
8. Are You A Dancer?
9. Tzar
10. Fat Man
Mogwai are Dominic Aitchison (bass), Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Martin Bulloch (drums) and Barry Burns (keyboard, computer, guitar). Formed in Glasgow in 1995, the band last year celebrated their 20th anniversary with the release of a 3xCD / 6xLP box set Central Belters and a run of acclaimed sell-out shows at Glasgow Barrowlands and London’s Roundhouse last June. The latter formed part of an ATP season of Mogwai-curated shows at the iconic London venue, for which they hand-picked a line-up of seminal artists that have challenged, intrigued and inspired over the past two decades, including Public Enemy, GZA, Godspeed You! Black Emperor & The Jesus & Mary Chain. Further 20th anniversary celebrations include a collaboration with Focus Scotland on a series of limited edition skateboard decks and t-shirts.