THE HAWK IS HOWLING

Mogwai's return to the musical approach of their early releases on the Zidane documentary soundtrack must have inspired them, because on The Hawk Is Howling they continue to incorporate more of the fragile textures of their early albums back into their music - but accomplish this somewhat more satisfyingly than on the Zidane soundtrack. Could they have been holding their better material back for this album? Possibly, but I can't really blame them - I'd rather have one good album and one mediocre album than two good albums that both suffer from some filler (because in the former case I can just ditch the mediocre album and listen to the better one over and over again). That said, the return to the approach of their early years suggests a lack of fresh ideas, and this certainly lacks the immediacy or clarity of vision of their original groundbreaking work in the field. The hawk may be howling, but the Mogwai are going through the motions.