Denmark. Home to such visionaries as Hans Christian Anderson, Soren Kierkegaard, and Lars von Trier; the fictional home of Beowulf and Hamlet, it has brought the music world some strange collectives like Aqua and Efterklang. It's also the home of today's review subjects: Mew.
No More Stories... is the fifth studio album from the Danish trio, and comes across with a dream pop sound akin to Canada's Most Serene Republic, glazed over with a regular indie-pop vibe. So far, less than a week after being released in the US and UK, it's been met with critical acclaim from almost everyone who's picked up a copy and listened in.
I'm likely to agree with them. It's an album thronging with marshmallowy-soft rock, and at the same time, it's got that dreamy vibe that takes it beyond the level of 'radio friendly' and into the realms of aural sex.
While their choice of first single didn't hit me as anything special, when compared to their previous single The Zookeeper's Boy (from And The Glass Handed Kites), the album has that feeling to it that if you tore out one piece, it wouldn't be an album.
It's built so intricately, and yet so delicately, that it's almost like cotton candy. It sounds like one false note, one strand out of line, would ruin the mystique of such music, but, at the same time, it sounds far too good to want to even question that a note is out of line. It's bubblegum sweet, and yet has a sherbet tang that keeps you on edge as you listen.
On the downside, it's dream pop. Personally, I'm a lover of dream pop and shoegaze, and can't say a bad word about either. But, dream pop and shoegaze aren't the easiest things to enjoy. This is an album I can sit and enjoy, and not need to analyse lyrically or musically. However, like all dream pop, it can get monotonous and songs can begin to blend if you're not into it - and then, that whole cotton candy intricacy melts away and just becomes sickly.
Overall: 8/10 - It's essentially a good album, with moments of pure brilliance shining through. But, it still has so much more it can give before it becomes a purely brilliant album.
Top Track: Cartoons and Macramé Wounds
