Noise, as in static, unharmonious sound, doesn't usually blend well with music. While a few genres, such as noise-rock and post-rock, include static tones as ingredients, noise is frequently used for its disorienting properties.
Then there is the other side to such incoherent sound. "Mr. Beast," Mogwai's newest album, uses incoherent sound so skillfully that it has almost ethereal characteristics.
The forefront of the music consists of heavy, transitory chords from piano and guitar. A lot of the intrigue of the music, however, is in the background. Distortion fades in and out of audibility, creating a sound so full in range and volume that it captivates as it seemingly drifts along.
Most of the songs on the album could be described as dreamlike, lucid incoherency. The notes act only as instances of clarity in tumult. Like moments of complete awareness during an acid trip, they're welcome, but are no more important than everything else going on. The nearly unheard tones, like flickers of light artifacts, appearing just out of direct view, play tricks on the senses.
Abruptly, Mogwai detonates into a blast of noise-rock, heard in the second song, "Glasgow Mega-Snake," and the last song, "We're No Here." These songs shake the album out of semi-consciousness into a stimulating movement.
Vocals are present in some tracks but become instrumental in their use. "Who may know of this? The notes we left, our final thought/ We take to memories and layers of clothes." The lyrics drift in and out of audibility as they get washed over by drawn guitar notes.
"Mr. Beast" is both elegant in its piano melodies and violent in its transitions to heavy, echoing post-rock.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
