Having been a fan of Mogwai‘s music for over 20 years, I was delighted when given the chance to watch and review their brand new documentary.
It is called If The Stars Had A Sound, which is a line taken from a recording that opens their debut studio album Mogwai Young Team, with the next words in the sentence being “it would sound like this”.
It’s a very fitting title in my opinion as the documentary really reflects the epic and grandiose nature of the band’s music, and how it affects people’s lives in different ways. This is done throughout the documentary with live gig footage of the band over the years, as well as various interviews with people who have collaborated with the band and/or have been affected by their music.
The most notable for me was the interview with the deputy headmaster of St Roch’s Primary and Deaf School in Roystonhill. He explains how Mogwai came to sponsor football strips for their school’s team. It moved me to see the footage of the school kids wearing the strips and looking so proud and happy. It is truly wonderful to see how much good the band has done.
I also really enjoyed the interviews with fans of the band who explained how the band’s music helped them cope with grief and difficult times in their lives. I was very pleased to find out the story of their song My Father My King and how it came to be, and to see footage of the band playing the song live.
The documentary goes back and forth in time throughout their career, from their first studio album Mogwai Young Team released in 1997 to their most recent 10th studio album As The Love Continues released in 2021.
The film shows a lot of how they recorded this latest album in their own studio (lovingly called ‘The Castle of Doom’) during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Towards the end of the film it is shown how the album was battling for the number 1 spot in the UK charts when released in February 2021. Comical footage is shown of rapper Ghetts driving a tank through London in a desperate attempt to reach the top spot in the charts himself.
In the end no theatrics were needed and the music spoke for itself, and Mogwai did manage to reach number 1 in the UK charts in its first week of release. The band did so even while remaining humble, down to earth and true to themselves, and they called the situation “totally surreal”.
The fans showed that the love really does continue.
I would recommend the film mostly to people who are already fans of the band and are keen to see some new footage and learn some new facts about the band.
Review by Catherine Black
Have you seen this documentary yet, and if so, do you agree with Catherine’s points? Let us know in the comments.
