Mogwai are the kind of band that, whether you want it or not, have a song for every moment.

As if they know exactly what you're feeling, as if they are trying to create a soundtrack to your life, to the life of all the people who occasionally close their eyes and decide to give them a bit of attention.

I had to spend two hours in the car: leaving behind the dull, cloudy beaches of the Marche region and immersing myself in the smoky fog of Bologna.

So what did I do? Being quite an avid fan, I packed 3 CDs: "Mr Beast," "Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will," and "Happy Songs for Happy People."

My mood wasn't the best, but the gentle drizzle, the semi-deserted A14, and a perfect soundtrack made the journey a fascinating experience. It also gave me the urge to write this review.

Why did I choose "Mr Beast"?

I couldn't say exactly... Maybe because the piano chimes of "Autorock" make it clear from the start that you're about to witness something magical.

Because the emotion of songs like "Travel Is Dangerous," "Friend of the Night" doesn't let you hold back the tears.

Because every note is in its place, the dynamics are simply unique: but how elegant is "Team Handed"?!

Because, when the album ends, the sound and piercing blasts of "We're No Here" have taken everything away, like an undertow that doesn't let the last fleeing galleon escape.

I didn't feel like I was in a car on the highway; it was something more.. The distortions made the car speakers shake, but the melody always prevailed. It's always like that with Mogwai, the guitars intertwine among themselves, impossible to distinguish, the anger rises, the fury, the restlessness... But the melody never leaves, not even during the most piercing of assaults on the rusty strings. Never.

The album finished, and I let it start again... I don't even notice, because every few minutes I'm teleported to a new planet, with new colors and new stories to tell.

I find it incredible how only they, among all the post-rock bands (if we want to call it so) with which the world is (way too) filled, manage to convey so many sensations without (almost ever) opening their mouths... Just them: who act like clowns during interviews and place unlikely football commentaries in the background of their songs.

If you too love to sit and listen to "Friend of the Night" and be catapulted each time into a different place, you know what I'm talking about; otherwise... You have no idea what you're missing out on.

Tracklist Lyrics and Videos

01   Auto Rock (04:18)

[Instrumental]

02   Glasgow Mega-Snake (03:35)

instrumental

03   Acid Food (03:40)

What happened after the storm
Was everyone okay
I tried to call again
I think they've gone away

(Will you look the other way)
(Will you look the other way)
(Will you look the other way)
(Will you look the other way)

I dreamt of an ice-age today
Cold and white to see
I walked for miles and miles
They came back another way
We learned them as we went
Forgot them straight away
The ones we left behind
The ones we sent away

(Will you look the other way)
(Will you look the other way)
(Will you look the other way)
(Will you look the other way)

04   Travel Is Dangerous (04:01)

Who might know of this?
The notes we left
Our final thoughts
And we knew they'd get ours out

*Sink, sink*
*Drowned* by our country
Old machine
Is cursed and forgotten
Never surface again

The air runs out
The captain's first
So we take to memories
And layers of clothes

Up there the family waits
And outside we heard hammers
Noises sound like the end
And we will never see them

Sink, sink
Drowned by our country
Great machine
Is cursed, old and rotten
Never surface again

05   Team Handed (03:58)

06   Friend of the Night (05:30)

Instrumental

07   Emergency Trap (03:31)

08   Folk Death 95 (03:34)

09   I Chose Horses (05:13)

Mugen ni hirogaru
Ishiki no fuchi wo aruki
Koudo dake wo tayori ni
Kimi ni mukau toki
Hirakareta ao wa eikyuu no kanousei wo utsushi
Kimi to boku no kawasu kotoba wo tsunageru
Omoku taresagaru yuuutsu no katachi wo omoiukabe
Soko ni aru hazu no kokoro
Yagate souon ni kakikesare
Oowareta hikari ni kaeri
Modoru koto wo nozomu koe wa hashiru
Shizuka ni tomaru shiroi nami
Minamo de haneru
Kumo no utagoe
Kuruu hizashi ni yakusoku no moji
Ashimoto ni hirogaru
Shikou no kakera wo mitsume
Kanawanu mono ni kibo no namida
Hoshi wa dare no mono ni
Kanashimi no saigo wa itsuka
Bokura ni kaesareru monogatari wo tsuzuku
Kage ni utsuru hitomi ni
Takusan no hohoemi ni musuu ni narabu
Deguchi e no shisen
Saiai no fuukei
Maboroshi ga motarasu
Shiroi shunkan to te no hira
Subete hohaba no naka ni sonzaishi
Afureru mizu ni tochaku no kane
Sora no hashi to yuuyami no kensou
Yoru wo koete
Chinmoku no toki
Tomoshibi wo keshite
Tsukiyo no michi wo
Muku no egao ni mikan no shiawase wo

-------------------------------------------------

It stretches on forever
I walk through this abyss of consciousness
Relying only on my heartbeat when I face you
The open blue reflecting eternal possibility
The words we exchange intertwine
A melancholy figure, hanging heavily
Surfaces in my mind
There must be a heart there:
Soon noise will drown it out
Returning to the concealed light
My voice raised, yearning to go back
White waves stop quietly
The song of the clouds breaking the surface
Letters of promise to the insane sunlight
I gaze at the fragments of thought spread out at my feet
Tears of hope for those unfulfilled
To whom do the stars belong?
Someday this sadness' end
Will be returned to us and the story will continue
Silhouettes reflected in my eyes:
Countless faint smiles lined up before me
Gazing towards the exit
This beloved landscape
A vision brings
An instant of whiteness and the palm of my hand
All exists within one stride
Bells sound the arrival of the flood
The bridge of the sky and the clamour of twilight
I pass through this night; in silence
I extinguish my lamp, and in the moonlit street
Give an innocent smile for the happiness to come

10   We're No Here (05:39)

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