Mew - And The Glass Handed Kites

When I heard Mew's first album Frengers, I was taken aback by something totally astonishing. It was one of the best albums I've probably heard since I laid my ears on Slowdive, Adorable, or early Catherine Wheel. Never in my wildest dreams did I think any album could compare to these giants. Well, I was wrong, on several levels. First, Frengers delivered what Adorable gave me in Against Perfection, as in raw power. It also harnessed the softest part of any Slowdive ballad. I thought nothing could reach the realm of these two albums. WRONG! Secondly, I finally get my hands on a copy of And The Glass Handed Kites, which I must say disappointed me initially. If you see a trend here with brilliant albums initially disgusting me, then you're probably very observant! This album didn't do much the first time around, then BAM! Right in the kissa! I guess I must have had my head up my arse the first listen through, as this thing is AMAZING. Yes, I can do without the silly warm up track at the start, but after it gets going, this album is musically perfect. Again, like listening to the power of early Catherine Wheel or Adorable, but throwing in Suede in all the right places. I guess, like Dog Man Star was to Suede, this is the more 'mature' album for Mew. It's kind of like throwing Supertramp, Pink Floyd and Adorable in the blender, and then squeezing the singer gonads in a vice for good measure. Christ he can really hit them, and I thought flippin' A-HA had that in the bag. This is truly one of the great releases to come out in the past few years, and will surely be regarded as an important album in years to come. The bandwagon still has room, if you want to jump on that is.




Track 1, Circuitry Of The Wolf

Track 2, Chinaberry Tree

Track 3, Why Are You Looking So Grave?

Track 4, Fox Cub

Track 5, Apoclalypso

Track 6, Special

Track 7, The Zookeeper's Boy

Track 8, A Dark Design

Track 9, Saviours Of Jazz Ballet (Fear Me, December)

Track 10, An Envoy To The Open Fields

Track 11, Small Ambulance

Track 12, The Seething Rain Weeps For You (Uda Pruda)

Track 13, White Lips Kissed

Track 14, Louise Louisa





Grab the tracks here!





Australian Sony Records 2005, 8287672294-2


Personal rating 5/5