Why do Mew have to be so weird? Is it because they’re Scandinavian? I mean, nothing against Scandinavians – there are loads of cool ones (see: The Raveonettes, Ingmar Bergman), but Mew seem hell bent on taking typical song structure and melody and running them backwards through a meat grinder. That’s probably the last time you’ll see Mew and hell and a meat grinder mentioned in the same paragraph, despite them having been hand-picked by industrial legends Nine Inch Nails to open on select dates of the latter’s farewell tour. There’s nothing dour about Mew’s music (apart from the lyrics Maybe, but I wouldn’t know for sure because Jonas Bjerre’s falsetto renders words nearly impossible to decipher). It’s cheerful and light in the vein of Phoenix and Air, and yet the distinct lack of straightforward “hits” render this album very difficult to digest. It took at least five listens to reach the point of confusion I’m at now. Scandinavian sorcery, I swear.

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