There’s a sense of scale to The Institutes that feels earned rather than engineered. On The Mountain Song, the Coventry five-piece don’t just return — they advance.
Billed as the second single from their forthcoming second album, the track finds the band leaning fully into what they’ve coined Stompgaze — a fusion of shoegaze atmosphere and grounded, rhythmic propulsion. It’s a clever description, but more importantly, it fits. From the opening seconds, there’s an irresistible forward motion. Drums push with purpose, bass locks into a hypnotic groove, and layered guitars shimmer overhead like heat haze rising off tarmac.
Recorded at Vada Studios with producer Matt Terry — whose recent sessions with Doves, Wunderhorse and Pastel have championed expansive textures — The Mountain Song feels sonically broadened without sacrificing the band’s core DNA. The guitars swell in widescreen layers, but there’s discipline in the arrangement. Nothing feels excessive. Everything feels intentional.
When the chorus lifts, it does so with melodic force — a sing-along moment that doesn’t beg for attention, it commands it. There’s groove here that perhaps outpaces some of the band’s earlier material, yet the harmonic richness remains intact. Think the hypnotic pulse of Ride, the dreamlike wash of Slowdive, the spiritual uplift of The Verve, with the melodic confidence of The Stone Roses and the atmospheric ambition of Radiohead. It’s lofty company — but this track earns the comparison.
“The Mountain Song‘ is about that feeling of momentum you don’t quite realise you’ve surrendered to. You start out chasing something that feels elevating but at some point the path disappears beneath your feet. No matter how different the reasons or the promises feel at the start, the journey always seems to end in the same place.”
Andy Hall
It’s that emotional undercurrent that stops The Mountain Song from being merely anthemic. There’s tension beneath the uplift. The rhythm may drive forward, but thematically the ground is shifting. That duality — movement versus meaning — gives the track its depth.
Kane Collins’ vocals sit confidently at the centre, cutting through the layered guitars with clarity, while Alan Ferguson and Andy Hall’s six-string interplay creates that shimmering, larger-than-life feel. Andy Lowe’s bass anchors the groove, and Kirk Savage’s drums give the whole thing its muscular stride.
The Mountain Song isn’t just another single. It’s a marker. A band refining their identity, expanding their sonic horizon, and proving that Stompgaze isn’t just a clever tag — it’s a movement.
ThisIsTheMusic 
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