“Party In The Dark” follows the meditative and instrumental "Coolverine", offering a second teaser of Scottish post-rock quintet Mogwai's upcoming ninth album Every Country's Sun (out on September 1st). The track has been touted as "perhaps the most fully realized art-pop sing-along in the band’s discography" since it comes closer to a standard indie rock song (verse + chorus lyrical structure, clearly audible vocals, college radio-friendly momentum) than their typically labyrinthine output.
The band's melodic space-rock production (courtesy of one-time producer Dave Fridmann) may be relatively novel, but the track still features their signature post-punk penchant for deep introspection. Despite being catchier than usual, the song's lyrics are relatively abstract and cryptic: 'I, taken from those spirals be both kind/ Hungry for another piece of mind/ Silent and inpatient without time/ Directionless and innocent'. The song begins on a somber note ('I see everything/ All their suffering') that evokes a defeatist outlook ('All our hearts were sore/ No fight left in this war'), evoking a galactic and panoramic sense of longing from the onset. (The song's rapid pace is neatly encapsulated in the paratactical placement of 'space-age miracles' immediately after 'tiny vehicles').
The accompanying Mordor-esque music video features melting silicone molded sculptures and an unsettling combination of stop motion, regular and time-lapse filming. Drawing inspiration from 80s sci-fi and horror movies, it is eerie and unsettling in an aptly otherworldly manner - but also unmistakably human.
