Mew: And the Glass Handed Kites

Although apparently released overseas in the later part of last year, I didn’t even know about Mew or their album And the Glass Handed Kites up until about a week ago. Thankfully though my newfound interest in the band came at the right time, as the album will see a release in the US on July 26th. And just by listening to it a couple times through, I will tell you right now that I am thoroughly impressed by this. Ignore the less than appealing album art; it’s what’s in the inside that counts anyway.

After only about two or three tracks in you can quickly tell that this is an album that is striving to be large, containing assortments of strings and a heavy dosage of synth. Thankfully for both Mew and the listener, the album hits that goal and feels monumental all the way through from opening instrumental “Circuitry of the Wolf” to “Louisa Louisa”. The album is one of those special cases where it should not be judged from song to song, although this being an MP3 blog that's what you'll have to do, rather it should be taken in as one large piece of music. It all runs together flawlessly, transitioning itself from one beautiful melody to another. Helped along by Jonas Bjerre’s soothing dreamlike vocals, And the Glass Handed Kites is an atmospheric joy ride, every bit as ethereal and dreamy as it can be hard hitting and piercing. It’s a combination of so many things that are good, that it’s hard to not find something that you can appreciate about Mew’s latest.

Although not knowing much about Mew, from what I understand this is their fourth album and that they are relatively unknown in the US. However they have been receiving a lot of attention across seas in Europe. After reading up a bit about And the Glass Handed Kites, it’s apparently a significant departure from the bands original sound. I will hopefully be able to go back here soon and take a listen to the rest of their discography, as this album has deemed it worthy to do so. It seems a bit unlikely for this to ever take off here in the US, however with the success of bands like Muse, Sigur Ros, and M83 it’s not to be completely ruled out as the similarities in Mew are there. That and having J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. fame serve as a guest vocalist on a couple songs won't hurt their chances either.

Mew - Why Are You Looking Grave (feat. J. Mascis) [MP3]
Mew - A Dark Desgin [MP3]
Mew - The Seething Rain Weeps For You [MP3]

Currently their album is available through most major online retailers as an import only, however it’s slated to be hitting US shores here very soon. So keep checking Insound and the likes if you do indeed enjoy some of the songs featured.