Mew - No More Stories / Are Told Today / I’m Sorry They Washed Away / No More Stories / The World Is Gray / I’m Tired / Let’s Wash Away Review
Posted by Marshall Slayton on 08.27.2009
Wow, what a title!!! Could the album be possibly any more epic?!
1. New Terrain
2. Introducing Palace Prayers
3. Beach
4. Repeaterbeater
5. Intermezzo 1
6. Silas The Magic Car
7. Cartoons and Macrame Wounds
8. Hawaii Dream
9. Hawaii
10. Vaccine
11. Tricks of the Trade
12. Intermezzo 2
13. Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy
14. Reprise
Clusterfuck.
That’s the one word I can use to describe Mew’s latest effort, the epically titled No More Stories / Are Told Today / I’m Sorry They Washed Away / No More Stories / The World Is Gray / I’m Tired / Let’s Wash Away. The album is a great, big clusterfuck of sounds and instruments assembled and packaged as music. It’s a total mess.
Yet, for some reason – one unbeknownst to this reviewer – it works. It all works – it really does. Mew’s new album takes an assortment of chaos and cacophony and creates a sound so beautiful, it somehow becomes organized. And I was along for every minute of the ride, from song one all the way to the "Reprise." I felt like a little kid at a theme park, one who gets to ride all the rides – and without any lines or hot weather to bask in.
The main singer’s voice, that of Jonas Bjerre, could belong to a child’s. His high-pitched, pre-pubescent vocals sound like a hybrid from Coheed and Cambria, Sigur Ros, and even a dash of Bjork. The overlapping instrumentals only further add to the psychedelic nature of their sound. The band jokingly refers to themselves as “pretentious art rock,” which, I’m happy to report -- isn’t true. It’s only pretentious when something has a sense of self-importance and isn’t any good. Mew’s new album is the real deal – it is a unique piece of art, through and through. It has every right to feel important as it wants to.
“New Terrain” starts off as a masterpiecey hodge-podge of indie rock. The consistent overlapping of vocals, keyboards and guitars is gorgeous, but suspicious. That assumption would be correct: when played in reverse, “New Terrain” reveals another track called “Nervous” within itself. Who would ever imagine an excellent song would still be excellent backwards? The same gimmick can also be found on Radiohead’s “Like Spinning Plates.” And like Radiohead, Mew's track is an epic win. Thanks to the excellent accessibility of YouTube, someone has already reversed the song and displayed the lyrics so we can follow along. Check out how genius crazy this is – the whole thing turned my mind into mush.
“Introducing Palace Prayers” left me feeling disoriented and awkward at first, due to the erratic and off-color opening. (As in, “Hey, you shouldn’t be drumming now – hold on!” erratic.) Once it gets going, it’s outright lovely. The mood left me feeling giddy and optimistic, as most of the songs do. If And The Glass Handed Kites, the album's darker predecessor, was like being locked alone in a shelter during a snow storm, then No More Stories is going out to play in the yard. The addition of a children’s choir on “Silas The Magic Car” and “Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy” only adds to its playful nature.
“Cartoons and Macrame Wounds” is the most epic song, clocking in at over seven minutes. It’s placed squarely in the center of the album, and the fact that it doesn’t ruin the pace is alone impressive. It has the feel of a concert closer, one where the curtain closes and the audience doesn’t stop shouting until it comes up again. But this isn’t close to over – there’s more surprises left in 25 minutes. Think of it as an encore.
Mew’s latest album is a complicated one, there’s no arguing that. Their multi-layered, complex, and overall messy style is difficult for most listeners to enjoy on the first go-round. It isn’t easily accessible. No More Stories requires multiple listenings to fully reap its benefits. Each time a song is repeated, you catch something new – a detail, or several of them – that you didn’t notice before. Once their style warms up to you, it is truly rewarding and refreshing. In other words, it's an acquired taste. But it’s a taste worth acquiring.
The 411: Trent Reznor chose Mew to close out the final Nine Inch Nails tour dates. He's been quoted as saying that Mew's new music sounds so incredible, he's jealous about it. NIN might be on their way out for a while, but Mew's got plenty of life left in them. Trent is right -- Mew's No More Stories... is so good, it's worth being envious of. This is the best album of their career, and by far. Highly recommended.
