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Glaswegian band Mogwai became somewhat of an anomaly when their latest album As The Love Continues unexpectedly landed at number one in 2021. The feat was made even stranger by the fact that it occurred during a global pandemic, as frontman Stuart Braithwaite recollects, “so we couldn’t even go to the pub to talk about how weird it was.” Mogwai has since released another album, The Bad Fire, which they did not let their previous success affect during the creation process, according to Braithwaite. In fact, they forgot to mention their chart-topping achievement to their new album producer, John Congleton. He only discovered the news when a French journalist brought it up during an interview.
Mogwai’s success was a surprise to them even though they’ve been in the music industry for 25 years, creating “serious guitar music” with long, mesmerising instrumentals packed with creeping anxiety and stunning pay-offs. They have cultivated a fanbase that prizes vinyl, which helped win them over sales of Dua Lipa and Harry Styles.Mogwai’s journey to number one was boosted by chart rules that value physical record sales more than streams when ranking positions. The success was a “huge surprise,” Braithwaite reiterates.
Mogwai’s journey to number one was powered by their vinyl-favoring fanbase. Mogwai’s journey to number one took 25 years, aided by chart rules that place higher value on physical record sales over streams when calculating rankings. Mogwai – a cult band with a fanbase that prizes vinyl – found the scales tipped in their favour. The Bad Fire, their latest album released on Friday, already looks set to smash the top five of the UK albums chart, helped by physical sales that retain an advantage over streaming hits.
Despite setbacks, including the illness that affected Barry Burns’ daughter, Mick Griffiths’ passing, and bassist Dominic Aitchison’s father’s death, which happened during The Bad Fire’s recording, Mogwai aims to retain the inherent purity of their music. The group remains resolute in creating deliberately open-to-interpretation, largely instrumental music. They leave their compositions with nonsense titles and in-jokes to avoid imposing meaning. Even their most lyrically expressive song, 18 Volcanoes, with Braithwaite quietly singing, “Hope has come another day/Hold me close in every way,” does not disappoint Mogwai’s lyrical formula by being opaque and impressionistic.
Although Braithwaite has a lot to say about streaming services, and how new and undiscovered artists have a challenging time making their way up the ladder, the band has seen continued success on YouTube. Take Me Somewhere Nice, a 2005 track, has been streamed over 85 million times.
For Braithwaite, who was heavily influenced by Blake’s poetry while recording The Bad Fire, the prospect of art outliving its creator is alluring. “I’m kind of obsessed with the concept of eternity within culture… I like the idea of, when we’re long gone, having made some kind of mark,” he says
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