THE HAWK IS HOWLING

"The Hawk is Howling" is the 6th full-length studio album by Scottish post-rock act Mogwai. That´s if you don´t count the soundtrack album "Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait" (2006) which bridges the gap between the band´s 5th full-length studio album "Mr. Beast" (2006) and "The Hawk is Howling". "The Hawk is Howling" was released in September 2008 through Wall of Sound, Play It Again Sam and Matador in the UK, Europe, and the US, respectively. A companion EP titled "Batcat" was released three weeks prior to the release of "The Hawk is Howling", featuring a slightly different version of the "Batcat" album track, and two additional tracks in "Stupid Prick Gets Chased by the Police and Loses His Slut Girlfriend", and the Roky Erickson collaboration track "Devil Rides".

Stylistically the material on "The Hawk is Howling" continue the by now signature instrumental post-rock sound that the band have developed since their inception in 1995 (this time fully instrumental). It´s predominantly guitars , bass, and drums driven music (there are some piano and organ on the album too), slow building and featuring repetitive rhythmic and melodic beats/motifs, and generally quite melodic and accessible. There are a few tracks on the album ( "Batcat" and "The Precipice") which are slightly harder edged than the remaining material and not too far from a post-metal sound. Distorted and a bit more noisy than the usual Mogwai track (not that they haven´t had harder edged tracks on their albums before) but most songs on the album are mellow and melodic in nature.

The musicianship are on a high level on all posts. Mogwai understand the importance of dynamics in music and they use both mellow/low volume parts as well as noisy distorted parts to great effect. This is not complex music in terms of technical skill but it´s played with great conviction and requires the above mentioned understanding and mastering of dynamic playing. One of the assets of "The Hawk is Howling" is the organic and bass heavy sound production, which suits the material perfectly, and which further enhances the listening experience. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.