After dropping ominous lead single U-235 early last month, Glaswegian post-rock mainstays Mogwai have unveiled the second track from their forthcoming LP Atomic.
Combining ambient swells and drones with twinkling guitar crescendos, Ether‘s slow-building instrumentals will provide a suitably cinematic opening for Mogwai’s ninth studio album.
Initially composed as a score for Mark Cousin’s 2015 BBC retrospective Atomic: Living In Dread And Promise, the group were so taken with the soundtrack they decided to revisit the material for a full studio release.
Atomic will retain the sinister undertones, industrial themes and nuclear symbolism which served as the inspirations for the original soundtrack. “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” reflects guitarist-vocalist Stuart Braithwaite. “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.”
The follow up to 2014’s Rave Tapes and 2015 compilation Central Belters, the LP is the band’s first studio project following the departure of guitarist John Cummings last November.
Atomic is due out on April 1st via Mogwai’s Rock Action Records.
Atomic Tracklist
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