Mew - Visuals

Mew are a Danish Rock band that have been at it since the late 90's.  With their 1997 debut "A Triumph For Man", they began showing off their very eclectic, very varied sound incorporating all sorts of different genres and sounds.  Shoegaze and Indie Pop seemed to be the big ones, but there were also elements of Post Grunge (I hear tons of Smashing Pumpkins Elements here), Post Rock, and even a little Post Hardcore in times.  All of it were strung together really nicely by pop hooks and glistening production, making for a really damn solid debut.  2000's "Half The World Is Watching Me" for the most part was just as exciting and triumphant, and added a certain elegance.  There were the same blends of Indie Pop and Shoegaze here, but Mew added in lavish string sections making for a slight progressive rock feel, and there was certainly a little power pop thrown in too.  The biggest addition however, was the much cleaner production.  While I didn't know how to take it at first, I realized over time just how much it added to the very sunny, positive feel to Mew's music.  However Mew's vocals remained very love or hate, and their music sometimes was just a little too cheery.  It'd be a few years until we heard a new album of completely new Mew material.  On 2005's "And The Glass Handed Kites", Mew went for a little less heavy sound and a much more indie pop sound.  Hell, half the time I felt like Mew were writing indie pop arena ballads.  This album overall, was pristine.  There were a few boring tracks and underwhelming thoughts, but outside of that we were dealing with wonderfully produced, exciting indie pop with bold ideas.  The progressive influence was still huge, and it made these tracks even more massive then they were.  With 2009's "No More Stories", I feel like Mew really missed a step.  There were still tons of very epic, huge Indie Pop ballads, but as a whole this album just wasn't nearly as exciting as it could have been. Plus, so many of the instrumentals by this point just seemed so recycled. Mew's 2015 album "+-" though was rough to listen to.  There were good tracks like the epic "Rows" and "Clinging To A Bad Dream".  But the rest of the album was just so bland and not exciting at all.  So moving into this album, my sights were already low.  And boy, these opening singles really haven't been too promising either, shall we discuss further!

This album starts off with "Nothingness and No Regrets", which is just about the sweetest intro I've heard all year.  And no, that's not a good this.  This is so sugary sweet to an almost disgusting level.  If you already didn't like Mew's vocals to begin with, this is going to be an absolutely nightmare for you.  Next up we have this songwriting, which is seriously atrocious.  Mew are practically at this point writing children's music in a weird way.  Back in the day, Mew was such an exciting and fresh band, but there isn't anything remotely interesting about this.  By the time the instrumentals pick up, I'm already long gone as far as my interest goes.  Yes, the drums are certainly epic and enjoyable, but everything else about this track is borderline laughable.  There's no edge to this whatsoever.  But it's ironic, Mew has done more pop oriented material in the past and it hasn't come off nearly as bad as this.  "Nothingness and No Regrets" is completely soulless, and not good at all.  "The Wake of Your Life" is up next, and thankfully at least this one has that very HUGE sound of a synth pop anthem that they've been going with for their last few albums.  This one at least also has a slight edge to it and a well thought out rhythm.  I actually seriously dig the bass riff here and the very confident sound of the band.  Even as far as vocals go, this isn't just a blast of sugary pop, there's actually a little oomph to these.  Honestly, if they mad an album that sounded like this from start to finish this really wouldn't be bad at all.  Granted it's not as exciting or massively blending all sorts of genres, but it's a solid Indie tune.  It's a little long winded and could have been maybe a minute shorter, but no real complaints outside of that.  But just as quickly as I'm impressed, my hopes get crushed by "Candy Pieces All Smeared Out".  This is, to every extent, exactly what I was afraid of.  Mew on this track are trying desperately to go back to their more heavy and exciting sound, but the result is one of the muddiest and ugliest tracks I've heard all year. Plus, it's just such a lopsided attempt to be heavy.  It starts off all aggressive but quickly just floats right back into the same sort of breezy Indie Pop.  So no, it's not really exciting at all, it's just ridiculous and out of place.  By this point in the album I really just kind of wish Mew went back to making Indie Pop stadium ballads.  Because tracks like this are seriously making me rethink everything about Mew as a band.  I'll give this track this however, it has one of the catchiest choruses here, but outside of that everything about this one is very wrong.  "In A Better Place" is up next, and I'll certainly say that the synths and the drums here are huge and a big step in the right direction.  But sadly, this just isn't nearly as memorable as some of their other ballads.  There isn't anything necessarily wrong with this, but it's just so beyond forgettable.  Plus, while these instrumentals continue to be huge, they go almost nowhere.  Plus, these vocals may be some of the most boring I've heard from Mew recently.  Their vocals are often hit and miss when they go for their more high pitched ones, but THIS, man this is just boring.  Plus, the entire last minute and a half switch up, as decent as it is, really shouldn't have been there at all.  So far, not so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQBqwAcrzE8

Next up is “Ay Ay Ay”, and strangely enough I really don’t mind this one at all.  This track honestly seriously caught me off guard.  There are a lot of elements here that made some of their early work so exciting.  Instrumentals this is easily the most diverse sound here, with the band seriously backing off of the synths and letting their bass and drums come to the front of their sound.  Then we have the lyrics which are totally left field and actually pretty engaging.  Mew on this one have thrown away all of their epic sound, there are no anthems here and that’s for sure.  And the resulting track, “Ay Ay Ay” is one of the the most seriously interesting tracks here.  It’s not the usual blend of post hardcore and indie pop and progressive rock, but if this was returned to in the future, hell yea I’d be into this. “Learn Our Crystals” is up next, which show Mew reverting right back to their sound of earlier on in this album.  But unlike earlier, this comes off rather nicely.  “Learn Our Crystals” actually has some serious harmonies here, and instrumentally this continues to come off seriously diverse.  At the very least, I can’t sit here and say Mew have completely lost their edge, because moments like this show that Mew can seriously put together a song still.  Overall, this is seriously a great Indie Pop tune with some tropical flare deep down and some really warm piano parts.  Not to mention, this one sort of has the Progressive Rock influence that used to work so well for Mew.  Hell, even though this is the longest track on the album, it certainly seems justified in that.  Not to mention that switch-up in the last minute comes off rather gracefully.  However this hot streak really doesn’t last too long for Mew, as “Twist Quest” brings us right back to the very Fake-Prog sound of earlier on.  And what I mean by that, is this seriously comes off as some ridiculous attempt to desperately sound artsy.  I felt like Mew were on the right path, but very quickly they sound more lost than ever.  The saxophone parts here are seriously obnoxious, and that’s a real shame because it seriously could have been some of the most epic material here.  I feel like lyrically this track is also so redundant, and that this is more of the same that’s been shoved down our throats for the entire album.  Thankfully that saxophone does get more epic and enjoyable to listen to.  But as a whole, this track is an absolute sloppy mess, with one too many fake attempts at being progressive and edgy.  By the time we get to “Shoulders” to be honest this seriously is getting worse by the moment.  Mew’s blend of Indie Pop and other genres used to be so exciting.  But here, oh my LORD here this is just Pop in the worst way.  There are a lot of really unlistenable trans here, but this one is the definition of lifeless.  Vocally it’s just so breathless and uninteresting, and the verses aren’t much better.  Atleast some of the earlier material on here had a soul to it, this is just plain bad.  At the end of the day, THIS right here is 100% the reason why people have issues with Mew these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILZ1C67LRGw

Then we have moments like “85 Videos”, which as cheesy and 80’s as it sounds, I can seriously get into this.  I love the riff on this one and just how confident Mew sound.  I have know idea where this sound has been for this album, but it’s really frustrating.  The verses here are a little bare bones and straightforward, but the chorus here is absolutely gigantic and the epitome of everything they've been going for with this Indie Pop Stadium Ballad sound.  This is easily the most epic thing I’ve heard on this entire album.  Plus, theres actually a genuinely interesting mix of genres here.  Mew can easily still make compelling material honestly, that was made obvious on this track.   But then I hear tracks like “Zanzibar” and I want to take it all back.  This track is the definition of bland.  I get that every track here seriously can’t be THAT epic, but come on, tracks like this tell me that Mew are barely even trying anymore.  The vocals here are putting me to sleep, and lyrically this is just redundant, and that’s really about it here.  These are two minutes I’m not getting back.  This has been pretty grueling, let’s finish this bad boy off.  “Carry Me To Safety” has at the very least a very pretty introduction.  But as far as vocals go, is it just me or do Mew really need a switch up and try a couple of new things?  Because I’m seriously feeling like in more ways than one this is more of the same.  It’s not the worst thing I’ve heard here, actually instrumentally this is pretty progressive and interesting.  Overall this track comes off pretty sweet, not sickeningly sweet either, just nice to hear.  I’m not saying it changes my thoughts on the album, it really doesn’t.  BUT, there are some epic chords here, and if they made a few more tracks like this here this would have been a whole lot easier on the ears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6gFfsdIDU0

Rating: 6.1/10

Give A Listen To: “The Wake of Your Life”, “Ay Ay Ay”, “Learn Our Crystals”,  “85 Videos”

Overall Thoughts:  Mew have been going downhill for years now I feel like, and this may just be their lowest point yet by far.  There are certainly some high points that show that Mew can certainly still write seriously compelling and exciting material.  But the majority of this album shows Mew have moved on from blending all of these very exciting genres in exchange for some seriously underwhelming and soulless indie pop.