Mogwai today releases the new song “Fanzine Made of Flesh,” the latest cut to be taken from their forthcoming eleventh album, The Bad Fire. produced by John Congleton (St Vincent, Angel Olsen, John Grant) at Chem19 studios in Scotland, due for release January 24, 2025 via Temporary Residence Ltd. (North/South America) and Rock Action (UK/ROW). The release of “Fanzine Made of Flesh” follows acclaimed recent singles “God Gets You Back” and “Lion Rumpus” which also appear on the album, and arrives ahead of a World Tour taking place in 2025 (SEE ALL DATES BELOW AND HERE).
“Fanzine Made of Flesh” is a graceful culmination of everything that makes Mogwai great. Stuart Braithwaite’s surging chord progression is paired with a vocoded vocal, whilst the work of keyboardist Barry Burns shines through, with Burns shifting between an elastic lead line and layers of arpeggiated synth.
Braithwaite says, “‘Fanzine Made of Flesh’ was written in Brooklyn when I was staying at Alex Kapranos’s house in autumn 2023. In my head it sounds like a cross between ABBA, swervedriver and Kraftwerk though that might be ludicrous. It originally has 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 song is supported by a striking 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.”
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 forgo nostalgia and easy victories, once again finding Mogwai pushing forward with some of the most beautiful and explosive songs of their career. Mogwai are set to embark on a world tour in support of the record throughout 2025, for full routing please click here. Stay tuned for more news.
2025 World Tour Dates
Feb 04 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
Feb 06 – Hamburg, Germany – Große Freiheit 36
Feb 07 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
Feb 08 – Stockholm, Sweden – Fållan
Feb 09 – Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller
Feb 11 – Berlin, Germany – Admiralspalast
Feb 12 – Leipzig, Germany – Taubchenthal
Feb 14 – Maastricht, Netherlands – Muziekgieterij
Feb 15 – Groningen, Netherlands – De Oosterpoort
Feb 17 – Brussels, Belgium – Ancienne Belgique
Feb 18 – Antwerp, Belgium – De Roma
Feb 19 – Paris, France – Casino De Paris
Feb 20 – London, England – O2 Academy Brixton
Feb 22 – Leeds, England – O2 Academy
Feb 23 – Edinburgh, Scotland – Usher Hall
Mar 08 – Bangkok, Thailand – Voice Space
Mar 11 – Osaka, Japan – Gorilla Hall
Mar 12 – Tokyo, Japan – Zepp Shinjuku
Mar 14 – Tapai, Taiwan – Zepp New Taipei
Apr 07 – Washington, D.C., USA – 9:30 Club
Apr 08 – Philadelphia, PA, USA – Theatre Of Living Arts
Apr 10 – Brooklyn, New York City, USA – Brooklyn Steel
Apr 11 – Boston, MA, USA – Paradise Rock Club
Apr 13 – Montreal, Canada – Beanfield Theatre
Apr 14 – Toronto, Canada – Danforth Music Hall
Apr 16 – Detroit, MI, USA – Saint Andrew’s Hall
Apr 17 – Chicago, IL, USA – The Metro
Apr 18 – Minneapolis, MN, USA – Varsity Theatre
Apr 20 – Denver, CO, USA – Ogden Theatre
Apr 22 – Salt Lake City, UT, USA – Commonwealth Room
Apr 24 – Vancouver, Canada – The Commodore Ballroom
Apr 25 – Seattle, WA, USA – The Showbox
Apr 26 – Portland, OR, USA – Roseland Theatre
Apr 28 – San Francisco, CA, USA – The Regency Ballroom
Apr 29 – Los Angeles, CA, USA – The Bellwether
Apr 30 – Phoenix, AZ, USA – Van Buren
May 03 – Austin, TX, USA – Emo’s
May 04 – Dallas, TX, USA – The Echo Lounge
