Mogwai – “Pat Stains” (Feat. Colin Stetson)

Antony Crook

Mogwai – “Pat Stains” (Feat. Colin Stetson)

Antony Crook

Next week, Scottish post-rock greats Mogwai will follow up their 2017 LP Every Country’s Son with a new album called As The Love Continues. In the past couple of months, they’ve already shared the songs “Dry Fantasy” and “Ritchie Sacramento.” Today, in what’s got to be their final single before the LP arrives, they’ve dropped their third and best early single.

“Pat Stains” isn’t a very majestic song title, but titles can be deceiving. The song itself is a seven-minute instrumental, and it’s a colossus. It’s not the length that makes “Pat Stains” resonate; Mogwai regularly blow past the seven-minute mark. It’s the way the song moves — the assurance of the way Mogwai build from soft sparkle to cathartic release.

On this one, they’ve got help. The track features the expressive saxophone virtuoso Colin Stetson — another artist who’s gone from the indie underground to crafting haunting, ominous film scores. (Atticus Ross, who also guests on a song from As The Love Continues knows a few things about that, too.) Stetson’s saxophone sometimes sounds like needling, off-kilter ghost chatter, and sometimes it sounds like a full orchestra at work. He fits into the Mogwai groove beautifully. Check the song out below.

As The Love Continues is out 2/19 on Temporary Residence.

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