‘No More Stories Are Told…’ | Mew

| Cadenza Reporter
Mew_web
Album: ‘No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is Grey I’m Tired Let’s Wash Away’
Artist: Mew
Rating: 4.5/5
For fans of: Death Cab for Cutie covering The Velvet Underground, Deerhunter
Tracks to download: ‘Repeaterbeater,’ ‘Cartoons and Macramé Wounds’

Landing in Mew’s “No More Stories…” initially might feel like visiting an unwelcoming land, a freewheeling dreamscape with stream-of-consciousness indie rock set amid echoing, somnambulant vocals. However, after you spend some time with the veteran Danish band, the music becomes appreciably lush, rife with nuanced, layered contributions from every member of the group.

Guitarist Bo Madsen goes so far as to call the band “the world’s only indie stadium-rock band,” and the description might be apt. “Repeaterbeater” opens with an aggressive guitar roar and heavily percussive drums before giving way to a verse reminiscent of Death Cab for Cutie that could best be described simply as “pretty.” Yet the song and album are nothing if not capricious, and before long the understated beauty of the first verse explodes into a rich chorus with fantastic backing vocals before winding back down.

And, even though the song changes step several times in only two and a half minutes, it never feels like Mew is trying to stay interesting simply by switching from one sound to another. Rather, every new flavor is enjoyable and even feels necessary to contribute to the song and album as wholes.

The usual pitfalls for art rockers like Mew are taking themselves too seriously or creating music that is difficult to follow or obscure for obscurity’s sake. And at times, it seems as if vocalist/lyricist/guitarist Jonas Bjerre’s lyrics are nothing but nonsense. However, on subsequent listenings, it appears more and more likely that he is trying to, in a way, “feel” his sentiment at you, the way a writer might use stream of consciousness to get a life-like, if disjointed, portrait of a character. This technique is mirrored in the layered and ever-shifting instrumental work, especially the ambitious, seven-minute-plus “Cartoons and Macramé Wounds.” And although Mew’s music is in a constant flux, the group is always anchored by talented drummer Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen. The percussive demands on “No More Stories…” are substantial, as the band relies on everything from a traditional drum kit to xylophones to steel drums to achieve fresh sonic textures.

The only knock against “No More Stories…” might be that it’s exhausting. Logging in at 54 cerebral minutes, the album demands a bit of its listener to be appreciated fully, though it is by no means off-putting in the way that some prog or art rock can be, and the album can be enjoyed as background music as well. As proof of its wide-ranging fans, the album has already reached No. 1 on the charts (in Denmark).

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