Silver Moth Debut “Mother Tongue”

Silver Moth debut video for "Mother Tongue"

Silver Moth, is the new group formed by Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai and other celebrated musicians, last month, they announced news of their debut album Black Bay, out April 21 via Bella Union. Having previously shared the audio for first single “Mother Tongue”, Silver Moth today reveal the accompanying video for the track. Commenting on the track and video the band say: “Mother Tongue is a song about women and other marginalized people rising up in the face of oppression. We were really excited as a band to work with video director Maddie Burton for the accompanying visuals. Maddie’s work is so beautiful, textural and evocative, all the members of Silver Moth felt her art harmonized with our music perfectly. Evi Vine had the idea for Maddie to include archival footage from feminist marches around the world in the video, and Maddie then overlaid the march footage with archival footage of the island of Lewis where we recorded the album. Maddie also wove in other images of nature, which felt like it added an extra layer of meaning considering the climate emergency we are all currently navigating”.

“A leap of faith reaps extraordinary rewards on Black Bay, an album of depth, atmosphere and daring from the collective known as Silver Moth. Recorded under unusual circumstances, Black Bay is the sound of seven musicians yielding to shared goals; a policy of trust in action. Between hushed incantations and molten guitars, 15-minute noise-rock epics and healing psalms, the record is a testament to connectivity and receptivity: to a union of disparate minds committing to something greater than the sum of its parts.

Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, Elisabeth Elektra, Evi Vine, Steven Hill, members of Abrasive Trees, Burning House and Prosthetic Head convened to improvise the album in early 2021, following a Twitter exchange between Abrasive Trees guitarist/songwriter Matthew Rochford and musician Elisabeth Elektra about the Isle of Lewis. A couple of Zoom meetings would subsequently lead to Rochford, Elektra, Vine, Braithwaite, Hill, drummer Ash Babb and cellist Ben Roberts visiting the dramatic location of Great Bernera’s Black Bay Studios on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, where they tracked the songs in just four days: a testament to the musicians’ focused openness to their shared mission and environment.

Silver Moth
Black Bay
Bella Union

1. Henry
2. The Eternal
3. Mother Tongue
4. Gaelic Psalms
5. Hello Doom
6. Sedna