Album Review

Mew – No More Stories

• 15th Sep 2009

Longtime darlings of the indie press, Denmark’s Mew will do that rep no harm with what could be their best full-length to date. The songs are complex enough to warrant regular revisits, to demand them even, as it’s an album that grows and changes on every listen.

Jonas Bjerre’s delicately tuneful voice brings to mind American indie favourites the Shins, but Shins-esque pop songs have no place here on what is possibly the most experimental and ambitious major-label indie record you’ll hear in a while. It’s packed with intense yet sprawling efforts which lead into one another seamlessly. This is pop without the big obvious moments, melodies without hooks, a single experience more than it is a collection of songs. The instruments are layered and harmonised with the loving attention and richness of an orchestra, giving the bigness and transcendence of prog done well without ever becoming stale or bloated.

It’s tough, therefore, to single out any definitive tracks, though “Introducing Palace Players”, the second song in, feels like the start of the album proper with its electrifying off-tempo guitar-and-keys groove and stunning vocals, and the plodding, twee “Silas the Magic Car” is blissfully dreamlike.