Review Summary: Mew releases one of the year's most endearing records to date.
There's something about Mew. Listen to any of their most recent albums, from 2003's
Frengers to their latest, perhaps most ridiculously titled record,
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, and the band gives off an ambitious notion matched by only the most pretentious experimental artists. Listen again and you get a far different impression, for just as Mew straddles pretentious, artsy ***, they also whole heartedly embrace enough pop sensibilities to make them readily accessible. And yet, they balance the two styles without compromising either. Of course, Mew is hardly the first band to bring together alterna-pop and pretentious, artsy ***, but the point is that they're damn good at what they do.
On previous albums, one of Mew's greatest strengths has been their versatility. Although
No More Stories… does little to change this, the record sees the band move away from the straightforward rock edge of
Frengers in favour of a dream-pop sound. Indeed, the bouncy riffs of singles "Introducing Palace Players" and "Repeaterbeater" are closest that
No More Stories… come to genuine rock songs, with the later being among the catchiest tracks Mew has done to date. But otherwise, Mew focuses on a more serene, laid back song structures. There's no shortage in swirly, atmospheric effects, and though
No More Stories… isn't as connected as
And the Glass Handed Kites, it flows as seamlessly as you could ask for. From the exotic effects of "Hawaii" to the guitar/piano interplay in "Silas the Magic Car",
No More Stories… is a rather light-hearted affair that is easy to get lost in. It's a fairly nice contrast after the purposefully difficult
And the Glass Handed Kites, admittedly enough.
As much as I'm going on about how easy listening
No More Stories… is, it does feature subtle complexities that make further listening extremely rewarding. Much of the album incorporates intricate nuances which add to the album's already rich sound. For instance, the multifaceted "Cartoons and Macramé Wounds", sees bursts of shimmering guitar, loud, distorted bass grooves, and even soft backup singing weave its way through the seven minute piece; one which opens as an uplifting pop song, but effortlessly progresses into a sparse track carried by Jonas Bjerre's odd singing style and light piano, before building up in rousing a crescendo of layered sound. As far as individual performances go, Silas Graae's drumming might not be as instantly gratifying as the efforts of his band mates, but he absolutely rips up "Vaccine" and "Tricks of the Trade", and is perhaps the most consistently excellent in his respective role over the course of No More Stories…
While I wouldn't go as far as to claim that
No More Stories… is Mew's best album, it's pretty close. But it's certainly one of their most complete records, if not their most complete outright; without recycling ideas from
Frengers or
And the Glass Handed Kites, Mew manages to combine elements from both records while remaining as unique and diverse as they've always been. Simply put,
No More Stories… is accessible without being overbearingly so, experimental without sounding too abstract and ridiculous, and most importantly, one of the year's most endearing records.
