Happy Songs for Happy People
Happy Songs for Happy People gives Mogwai a more compact form without making the sound small. Most tracks need less time than the long pieces in their early work. Guitars, piano, keyboards and treated voices complement each other carefully. The music can be sombre and heavy, but also has an open and surprisingly light side.
Hunted by a Freak establishes that direction immediately. Guitar sets down a simple pattern before effects and treated singing enlarge its setting. The voice works more as melodic sound than a clear narrator. This gives the track an uncertain quality without losing its recognisable line.
Kids Will Be Skeletons chooses a brighter feeling. Repeated guitar figures gain support from new layers while the band keep the foundation clear. Killing All the Flies creates a greater contrast. Its soft opening grows towards firmer, distorted guitar. In a short time, the track achieves a development that might have occupied much more space on an earlier Mogwai album.
Ratts of the Capital takes that space instead. The longer piece builds from clear guitars and percussive sounds to a heavy peak. Melody remains important even in its loudest section. Closing track Stop Coming to My House stacks drums, guitars and electronic sounds much more densely. It is a more exuberant ending than the quieter passages suggest.
The careful continuity makes some differences between tracks less noticeable. By the second half, the attractive sound can start feeling familiar, and a few brief ideas deserved more development. Yet clarity and weight work particularly well together. Mogwai retain their characteristic tension while often using fewer means. Happy Songs for Happy People is accessible but has enough detail and strong melody to offer more than a pleasant first impression.
