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The Hawk Is Howling

by

Mogwai

 
The Hawk Is Howling
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Avg: 4.0 (53 ratings)

Another brilliant slab of instrumental boom and balm — this time, with vague, glimmering hints of hooks!

  • We Say...

    Review by Craig McLean

    World going to hell in a handcart? Bank balance collapsing faster than, well, the banks? No matter: Mogwai are here with 63 minutes of instrumental boom and balm. After 2006's inventive and evocative soundtrack for artist Douglas Gordon's movie about French footballing genius Zinedine Zidane (Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait), on their sixth studio album the Glasgow outfit offer squalling but sublime head-nodders ("I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School"), slabs of hymnal prog ("Scotland's Shame"), and even — whisper it — poppy melodic hooks picked out on twinkling keyboards ("The Sun Smells Too Loud"). The ear-bleeding noise-for-noise-sake that previously bedevilled their music is here shaped into something more finely wrought, without losing any of this stoutly refusenik band's power. "The Hawk Is Howling" is glorious stuff, expansive, escapist and, yes, uplifting. Can we also just recommend tracking down a copy of the single release of Batcat? Not only because it's a swirling blues-rock epic that's just thrillingly heavy (Kings Of Leon? Bah! They don't rock like Mogwai rock!). But also for the title of the b-side: "Stupid Prick Gets Chased By The Police And Loses His Slut Girlfriend." Which is almost as brilliant as the legend that adorned Mogwai's classic 1999 merchandise T-shirts — "Blur: Are Shite".

  • They Say...

    Review by Heather Phares, All Music Guide

    With each album, Mogwai discovers new ways of balancing the power and subtlety of their music. On The Hawk Is Howling, the band returns to its roots, working with producer Andy Miller for the first time in a decade and delivering its first set of completely instrumental songs in several albums' time. This is the most massive Mogwai's music has felt in quite awhile -- and for a band that turns in expansive pieces as regularly as they do, that's saying something. "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead" opens the album with shades of Mr. Beast's sparkling beauty, but it uses every second of its nearly seven minutes to more climactic effect than the previous album's subdued approach: beginning with intertwining pianos and keyboards, it teeters on the edge between beautiful and ominous, ratcheting up the tension until the song finally dies out with a violin that bleeds into feedback. That still doesn't quite prepare listeners for the wallop that "Batcat" -- which is The Hawk Is Howling's lead single -- packs. It's no secret that Mogwai loves metal and has never shied away from heaviness in their own music, but even their most churning workouts seemed to hover; "Batcat" hits the ground hard, and with a blunter impact, than any of their previous guitar workouts. As fantastic as "Batcat" is, it represents The Hawk Is Howling only as proof of how wide-ranging the album's sound is. "The Sun Smells Too Loud" is aptly trippy and surprisingly poppy, with wispy electronic textures and a huge rhythm section that gives the song almost planetary heft; and though "Daphne and the Brain" doesn't hit any peaks or valleys, its rolling majesty and shadowy guitar melodies are still awe-inspiring. Between these major statements, The Hawk Is Howling takes breathers with smaller-scale tracks, like the glittering "Kings Meadow," that reveal their intricacy with repeated listens. The album's second half expands on that subtlety in different ways: Though the Heathers-quoting "I Love You, I'm Going to Blow Up Your School" climaxes in a skewering guitar solo, it's preceded by six minutes of artful counterpoint and jazz-tinged drumming; "Scotland's Shame" takes the opposite approach, with strong rhythms propelling a pensive melody for a uniquely mournful yet hard-hitting result. These tracks demand close listening, which makes "The Precipice"'s slow-burning tribal rhythms and swarming guitars even more dramatic as the album's final statement. At first, it's tempting to want all of The Hawk Is Howling to be as obviously powerful as its biggest tracks, but with time it reveals itself as one of Mogwai's most masterful blends of delicacy and strength.

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