Mogwai Drop ‘Ritchie Sacramento,’ Tribute to David Berman and Other Lost Friends

Scottish post-rockers Mogwai have released a new song, “Ritchie Sacramento,” from their upcoming album, As the Love Continues, out February 19th

“Ritchie Sacramento” is an all-enveloping track topped with shimmering guitars and Stuart Braithwaite’s melodic vocals, which are deftly undercut by a deep rumble of bass and distortion.

In a statement, Braithwaite said of the song: “‘Ritchie Sacramento”s title came from a misunderstanding a friend of ours had about how to say Ryuchi Sakamoto. The lyrics were inspired by a story Bob Nastanovich shared about his friend and bandmate David Berman who proclaimed ‘Rise Crystal Spear’ as he threw a shovel at a sports car. The song is dedicated to all the musician friends we’ve lost over the years.”

“Ritchie Sacramento” arrives with a music video directed by Sam Wiehl, which he made with the Unreal Games Engine. Per a release, Wiehl essentially created a whole first person, multi-level computer game to accompany the song, then crafted the animations into a narrative for the video.


“Ritchie Sacramento” marks the second offering from As the Love Continues, following “Dry Fantasy,” which was released last October. As the Love Continues will be Mogwai’s 10th studio album and follows 2017’s Every Country’s Sun.

Mogwai will mark the release of their new record with a performance of the record in its entirety (along with other songs from the band’s catalog), which will air February 13th at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT in the United States. Long-time collaborator Antony Crook will direct the show, and tickets are on sale now via Mogwai’s website.