Mogwai The Bad Fire

Fresh off of topping the UK charts with the surprise hit As the Love Continues in 2021, Glaswegian post-rock icons Mogwai are back with their 11th album, The Bad Fire. The John Congleton-produced record gets its name from a Scottish slang term for Hell, partially mirroring the experience that the band’s keyboardist Barry Burns faced while his infant daughter was receiving a bone marrow transplant during recording sessions. Ironically, The Bad Fire sounds like Mogwai at their brightest and most luminously melodic, even as they remain masters at the moody, brooding sound beginning with their debut Mogwai Young Team in 1997. The surprisingly fizzy “Fanzine Made of Flesh” surfs atop miles of lush, tangy guitar waves, while the crashing melodies of “Lion Rumpus” are anchored around robotic vocals that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Daft Punk record. Nearly 30 years in, Mogwai are still peeling back new sonic layers.