Mogwai’s Every Country’s Sun is out now. They play the Brixton Academy on December 15, the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on December 16 and venues in England in February 2018

sic is not as good as it used to be but probably because there isn’t the money to market bands up to that level, as often used to happen.”

And that lack of money has led to the rise of middle-class singer-songwriters and bands, he says, without naming names.

“There’s nothing wrong with those people making it but there isn’t enough variety. You look at bands like Arctic Monkeys or The Jesus And Mary Chain and think would bands like that get to make albums as easily now?

“It’s harder; labels don’t have money for tour support so it’s hard for bands to get out and as much for people outside of their home towns, unless they have their parents’ credit card or something.”

Grime music is an exception, he argues, because of the lack of expense needed to create it at a grass-roots level.

“That shows once you take away the financial burden, you get these really f ****** talented and inspired artists making music that represents their lives and communities,” he says.

It is the same as the working-class rock seen in the Eighties and Nineties, adds Braithwaite.

“It’s punk, it’s rock. It’s people getting off their a*** and making stuff themselves and inspiring people, which is what culture and music should be about.”

Quizzed on what can be done to help tomorrow’s Arctic Monkeys or Jesus And Mary Chain to break through, Braithwaite immediately, and justifiably, takes the conversation back to the front line.

“If your parents can’t afford to feed you, then they can’t afford to buy you a guitar,” he says.

“It gets back to more fundamental things about society and the way poor people have been victimised and made an example of to try and detract from what the bankers did. It’s just another way the culture of austerity affects people’s everyday lives. It meant you are more likely to get a posh singer-songwriter and not the Sex Pistols or the Happy Mondays or The Slits.”

The band are currently back in Mr Trump’s America for a tour and Braithwaite is delighted to be showing the record off after such a long wait.

They will return to the UK for a show at London’s Brixton Academy before an end-of-theyear homecoming at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro.

Solely focused on the music for the first time in a 20-minute conversation, Braithwaite says: “I’m just enjoying going out and playing all the songs.

“We’re really lucky that people are keen to hear what we’re playing and writing, I just want to keep making music.”

❝ Poor people have been victimised and made an example of to detract from what the bankers did