Mogwai and Arab Strap's new albums really do deserve their rave reviews – Angus Robertson

Great albums don’t usually come along in pairs, but the Scottish music industry can celebrate two first-class releases in recent weeks.

Mogwai’s As the Love Continues has already made it to number one in the album charts and Arab Strap have returned with As Days Get Dark, their first release in 16 years.

I have been a relative latecomer to both bands, but am absolutely loving the new albums and their back catalogue too.

The first time I saw Mogwai was at the big “Yes” campaign concert at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall during the Scottish independence referendum campaign.

It was an awesome experience. Since then I have loved their soundtrack to Les Revenants and much else besides. With Arab Strap, I have had the good fortune to see Aidan Moffat with Neu Reekie at the Queen’s Hall, but I’ve never seem him perform with Malcolm Middleton as Arab Strap.

Reviews for both new albums have been extremely positive. NME described Arab Strap’s As Days Get Dark as the best of their career and “dark, debauched, tragic – and strangely beautiful”, while Mogwai’s 10th studio album As the Love Continues is, according to The Skinny, “a fantastic collection of songs that are going to fit in seamlessly with the Mogwai classics once live music returns”.

If you’re looking for a couple of great new albums to listen to during lockdown, I can thoroughly recommend the new releases by Mogwai and Arab Strap. Here’s hoping to see them both live when we are able to get to gigs, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.

Arab Strat: Aidan Moffat (left) and Malcolm Middleton

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