Mogwai - "Ritchie Sacramento"

Mogwai are set to release their new record on February 19. Today, they've shared another new track from the album.

At this point in their career, Mogwai aren't likely to be winning over any new fans, but that doesn't seem to be their goal. Nearly three decades of making music and the band aren't reinventing their sound, but rather sharpening their skills and honing in on what makes their craft shine with exuberance. They still do their version of soft-loud-soft like many other post-rock bands before and after they reached their status of titans of the genre, but what Mogwai have mastered at this point is that changing up their tune doesn't always work in their favor. Now, they seem to be focused on accelerating in the lane they already navigate so well. "Ritchie Sacramento" is a great example of this technique and allows the band to use their sinister guitar work to conjure up big waves of sound, that crash with heavy blows and fits perfectly into their discography. This isn't new territory for the group, but here they do play with more vocals than most might expect which giving a feeling of perhaps driving in a different lane on an already familiar road. The destination still feels the same, but the perspective is slightly altered. According to the group,“‘Ritchie Sacramento’’s title came from a misunderstanding a friend of ours had about how to say Ryuichi Sakamoto. The lyrics were inspired by a story Bob Nastanovich shared about his friend and bandmate David Berman who proclaimed ‘Rise Crystal Spear’ as he threw a shovel at a sports car. The song is dedicated to all the musician friends we’ve lost over the years.”

As the Love Continues is out February 19 via Temporary Residence Ltd./Rock Action.