India, Sept. 12 -- The concert hall was thick with anticipation when Kathryn Joseph took the stage last week.

The Scottish songwriter's ethereal voice drifted through Helsinki's cultural palace, Kulttuuritalo, like smoke; her piano-led, synth- and drum machine-assisted melodies weaving around the audience with the kind of delicate intensity that makes one hold one's breath.

Her opening act was perfect preparation for what was to come: a masterclass in how silence can be just as powerful as sound.

Then Mogwai arrived. No fanfare, no theatrics; just four musicians (Stuart Braithwaite, Barry Burns, Dominic Aitchison and Martin Bulloch) striding onto the stage with the quiet confidence of a band that has been doing this for nearly three de...