Les Revenants; The Returned, and Thou Have Returneth

I've always had a constant, unconditional love for post-rock, yet somehow Mogwai have always been one of those groups that I've felt have teetered on this particular fence.
Call me old fashioned, and yeah I feel a little bit like an old dog that you can't teach new tricks to; but after being introduced to this genre by God is an Astronaut, Pelican and the likes; I've always felt that it was more about the emotion through instrumentation that resonated this style rather than vocal projection. This is maybe why I've never considered myself an avid Mogwai fan - only occasionally listening to the songs which I can put my own words and emotions to, rather than trying to associate with the lyrics that have been placed before me. Nonetheless, I have always felt this band play beautiful emotionally-driven music that I'll always be able to relate to on many different levels.

Now this is more of a dual-reflection update rather than putting the spotlight solely on Mogwai, as it comes hand-in-hand with a new television series I've recently started watching. Some of you might know it, some not. Shamefully to say, I've been watching it on Channel 4 but was recommended it through word-of-mouth as it was apparently "down your street". The Returned is a French television show that has reached the UK solely through being subtitled for British audiences (once again, I am shamed but unfortunately my lack of bilingualism has given me the disadvantage of not knowing any of these otherwise brilliant foreign television shows.) Originally titled for it's primary French Audience, Les Revenants is still pretty fresh with its 2013 air release, and I would highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't seen it - however if you're like me and can't speak a word of French further than "voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir", you're going to have to a hard time. Or you'll just have to follow my lead, and do what I've painstakingly had to, and grit your teeth in anticipation of every weekly episode (currently waiting on episode four right now.)

In a nutshell - and I won't leak any spoilers just in case, the series is set in a small Alpine village where tragedy has struck on more than a few occasions in its recent years. A coach carrying a major group of school children swerves off a high cliff; that sort of awful thing. Key themes to note here that don't give any fundamental plot lines away are that essentially the accidents that have happened - those which have resulted in lives ending far before they should have, are beginning to be reviewed. People who died before their prime with otherwise no knowledge to their short lives ending, are being resurrected from the dead without any knowing that they are no longer alive. Les Revenants, or The Returned as I know it, explores a bizarre consequence of the lives of people who have been affected by the loss of someone close, and how - as much as the mind longs for their return, everyday life is altered when the unaware dead try to continue to coexist with the living, oblivious of their own fatal circumstances.

As I watched the very first episode with an open-yet-sceptical mind, I couldn't help but notice how powerful the soundtrack was. It's hard to write about how it affected me without releasing any spoilers, but each song ran shivers down my spine and I made a mental reminder to look into the soundtrack afterwards. The music was intense, yet it felt fragile while in tune with its visual context. If anything, it was the music that emphasized the extremities of emotion in The Returned. Although I didn't know how to personally relate to most of  the themes that this series shadowed, somehow now I could suddenly understand them. The music fuelled my empathy for the characters in the show and how they grieved for the people they lost. The numbing shock they felt when those they had once hysterically mourned for, had returned to them.

Hit the break for the track, and a little more gushing.

While I was in work, the day that followed watching the first pilot episode, I gushed about how moved I was by the series, and how I couldn't wait until the next was going to be aired. Here I was informed that Mogwai had starred the entire soundtrack, and suddenly I felt my fondness for this band begin to reignite itself. Now it's a bit of a chicken-before-the-egg syndrome I'm experiencing right now. Here, I couldn't decide whether or not it was the television show that has caused me to listen to this soundtrack repeatedly since I met it's maker, or if I would have eventually sought them out regardless and still appreciate the intensity this album deploys.

I can't help but be biased to The Returned when saying that Mogwai's latest album really has the ability to move me emotionally, and help me understand the tragic themes the music fits to intensify. Through this television show, it reflects upon themes of loss and the extreme yearning for their return that coincides. It opens your eyes to how people deal with the grief of losing your husband; girlfriend, or children. It even skims across the panic-stricken fear one would feel knowing of the possibility of a resurrected killer. But regardless and out of context to this knowledge, the music alone delivers the same incomparable velocity.

Titled accordingly,Mogwai's latest album Les Revenants is accessible anywhere, be that Spotify or iTunes, or even YouTube. I recommend that anyone listens to this album, especially if you're like me and have to cope with long treks on a daily basis. Might I add, it fits perfectly with watching the sunrise. However, if you're also hormonal like me, you'll end up so fuelled with emotion from these songs that you'll end up in fits of hysterical sobs that you can't find a reason for.

Honestly I can't stress how brilliant both this television show and Mogwai's beautiful contribution to it are. The only other soundtrack that I've felt delivers the same emotionally-driven timbre to it's visual is Eddie Vedder's Into the Wild.  Since then, this album by Mogwai is by far the most powerful soundtrack I've come across that compliments it's visual context so brilliantly.

I've embedded the (opening) credits track to listen to. It's called Hungry Face and it's loooovely.