Scottish Band ‘Mogwai’ Beat Artist Ghetts To Rank On Top Of UK Album Charts

Scottish rock band Mogwai came in on the first spot on the album charts, 25 years after their song was first released.

As The Love Continues is the band’s 10th album and it battled the grime artist Ghetts to take the top spot.

Despite taking to the streets of London in an armoured tank to promote it, Ghetts’ third album Conflict of Interest was 2,900 sales behind the Glasgow-based four-piece.

‘I Can’t Believe It’

The Official Charts Company confirmed the news on Friday.

Mogwai chief executive Stuart Braithwaite said: “I can’t believe it – it’s something we never thought would happen.

“It’s absolutely outrageous and not anything we’ve ever considered. It’s not the kind of place a band that makes music like us usually ends up.

“It’s confusing and amazing at the same time.”

Best Seller On Vinyl

Stuart told BBC Scotland’s The Nine that when he first saw the email putting them at number one, he thought the report was for one city or one record shop, not the whole of the UK.

The highest number of Mogwai’s previous charts came in 2017 when they reached number six with Every Country’s Sun.

Prior to this only one of their record had scratched the top 10.

The group, known for its versatile instrumental brand of experimental post-rock, also became this week’s best-seller on vinyl and the top seller in UK independent record shops.

Elijah Wood Supports Mogwai

The album chart climbing race was boosted on Tuesday when Hollywood actor Elijah Wood wrote on Twitter that he supported the record.

The Lord of the Rings star sharedStuart Braithwaite’s tweet on Twitter asking fans to help make the record a best-seller and wrote “come on folks”.

Stuart said the team has never bowed to the pressure to change and their success on the chart has been around for a long time.

‘Our Fans Are Really Loyal’

“We’ve always done our own thing, been very independent and been very in our own lane,” he said. “I think people appreciate that. There’s a lot of people in music and different kinds of culture that go chasing the latest trend and that’s never been our thing at all.”

He thinks a lot of people are attracted to the record because it reflects current events.

He said: “It sounds great. This music is personal and it’s clear that everyone is going through a difficult time right now for that to be a part of it.

“And our fans are really loyal, and we’re really lucky the new generations have found our music over the years and the people who found us in the early years have stuck with us.”

Mogwai recorded the latest program on Vic Galloway of BBC Radio Scotland.

And the team was supposed to play Glasgow’s Hydro this month but like most teams, they are restricted by the pandemic.

Stuart hopes to get back on the road as soon as possible.

“We would go anywhere to play and I’m sure it’s the same for most musicians. I think once things start opening up it will all happen. I wouldn’t imagine we will be very far behind anywhere else.”

For the moment, though, the band will celebrate their chart success, lockdown-style.

“We’ll probably do a wee zoom. I don’t live too far from Barry [Burns], so we’ll maybe meet in the park and jump around the swings or something like that,” he said.

“Maybe a few glasses of wine and talk about how weird it is.”

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