Mogwai release 'Fanzine Made of Flesh' single ahead of album launch

Glasgow post-rock legends Mogwai have released the latest single from their upcoming eleventh album, The Bad Fire - which is set for release on Friday, 24 January.

According to Stuart Braithwaite from the band, the track, named Fanzine Made Of Flesh, was spawned from a “ludicrous” combination of musical influences.

Braithwaite said: “Fanzine Made of Flesh was written in Brooklyn when I was staying at Alex Kapranos’ house in autumn 2023. In my head it sounds like a cross between ABBA, Swervedriver and Kraftwerk, though that might be ludicrous. It originally had a straight vocal but we ended up vocoding it on the last day of recording. It’s pretty different and I’m really happy with how it turned out.”

The new song is supported by a new video directed by Agnes Haus, who says; “When I was sent the track, I embraced being unable to understand any of the words and I didn’t want to know where the title came from. As I was listening, I wanted to make a video that matched that - a pseudo-film trailer with a jumbled plot that you can never grasp.

“You kind of have to piece it all together on your own. I really wanted it to seem like there could be a full-length film version with vague horror tones, emotional entanglement and nods to weird art films from the ‘90s, and an autobiographical storyline about growing up non-binary, but not realising it. Perhaps one day I’ll extend it into a full film.”

Forthcoming album The Bad Fire was recorded in Lanarkshire, with Grammy Award-winning producer John Congleton joining the band in the studio.

A Scottish colloquialism for Hell, The Bad Fire draws inspiration from a series of tough personal moments that the band found themselves in following on from their chart-topping tenth album, 2021’s As The Love Continues.

The band continued to work through this, leading to the creation of The Bad Fire: a collection of songs that forego nostalgia and easy victories.

Mogwai will support their upcoming album with a world tour throughout 2025, here’s where you can catch them:

• 24 January Glasgow QMU (SOLD OUT)
• 23 February Edinburgh Usher Hall (SOLD OUT)
• 17 May Glasgow Barrowlands (SOLD OUT)
• 18 May Glasgow Barrowlands