And the Glass Handed Kites

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And the Glass Handed Kites

Studio album by Mew

Released

September 19, 2005

Recorded

2004 - 2005

Genre

Indie, New Prog, Art Rock, Dream Pop

Length

53:59

Professional reviews

Mew chronology

Frengers
(2003)

And the Glass Handed Kites
(2005)

And the Glass Handed Kites is an album by Danish band Mew, released in 2005.

It is Mew's fourth album, and was released on September 19, 2005 in Denmark (September 26, 2005 in the rest of Europe) with great expectations as their previous album, Frengers (2003), had been a huge success and was well received by the critics. And the Glass Handed Kites mainly lives up to the expectations, although not as well received as Frengers, because of its composition, whereas Frengers was 10 individual "singles", Mew has made the approach to the new album more difficult for the "mainstream ear".^{[original research?]} The album has been called 'one long song', an allusion to the tracks' unnoticed transitions. The album was released in most of Europe, and on July 26, 2006 also in the United States where it has been well received by critics.

Ahead of the release, "Special" was played on the radio frequently.

Promo versions of And the Glass Handed Kites were selling for around £60 ($120) a piece on eBay months before the official release.

This was the last album to feature bassist Johan Wohlert, who left the band the following year to focus on being a father.

[edit] Track listing

"Circuitry of the Wolf" – 2:45
"Chinaberry Tree" – 3:33
"Why Are You Looking Grave?" – 3:50 (J.mascis Vocals)
"Fox Cub" – 1:15
"Apocalypso" – 4:46
"Special" – 3:12
"The Zookeeper's Boy" – 4:43
"A Dark Design" – 3:29
"Saviours of Jazz Ballet (Fear Me, December)" – 3:18
"An Envoy to the Open Fields" – 3:40
"Small Ambulance" – 1:05
"The Seething Rain Weeps for You (Uda Pruda)" – 4:18
"White Lips Kissed" – 6:45
"Louise Louisa" – 7:20

The Japanese version features two bonus tracks at the end of the disc, "Forever and Ever" and "Shiroi Kuchibiru No Izanai (White Lips Kissed)".

[edit] Singles

"Apocalypso" Released on July 18, 2005 as a 7" vinyl.
"Special" Released on September 19, 2005 as a CD single, a 7" vinyl, and another 7" vinyl. Both 7" vinyls have two different B-sides.
"Why Are You Looking Grave?" Released on February 6, 2006 as a collector's edition CD single, a regular CD single, and a 7" vinyl.
"The Zookeeper's Boy" Released on April 17, 2006 as both a CD single and a 10" vinyl.

[edit] Trivia

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Despite not having been released as a single, the track "The Zookeeper's Boy" gained massive popularity with the biggest radio station in Denmark, P3, playing the track intensively. This made it "Hit of the year" in countless polls, and when GAFFA, the biggest Danish music magazine, made a poll, it took first place, with the actual single "Special" coming in second. It later was released as a single due to popular demand.
The album has won Mew several prizes in Denmark, including four Danish Music Awards. It also features at the top of Danish musicmagazine GAFFAs list of best albums of 2005.
The album's peculiar cover has earned it the dubious honor of being the second album named in Pitchfork Media's "Your Cover's Blown," a column devoted to poor album art[1]. And also in Pitchfork Media's "Top 25 Worst Album Covers of 2006"[2].
The working title for the album was Saviours Of Jazz Ballet but even before they thought about calling it Circuitry Of The Wolf.

v • d • e Mew
Jonas Bjerre \| Bo Madsen \| Silas Graae
Johan Wohlert
Discography
Albums: A Triumph for Man \| Half the World Is Watching Me \| Frengers \| And the Glass Handed Kites \|
Singles: "She Came Home For Christmas" \| "King Christian" \| "Her Voice is Beyond Her Years" \| "Mica" \| "Comforting Sounds" \| "Am I Wry? No" \| "156" \| "Apocalypso" \| "Special" \| "Why Are You Looking Grave?" \| "The Zookeeper's Boy"