| And the Glass Handed Kites | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Mew | ||||
| Released | 19 September 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 2004 - 2005 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, indie rock, shoegazing, dream pop, new prog | |||
| Length | 53:59 | |||
| Label | Sony BMG | |||
| Producer | Michael Beinhorn | |||
| Mew chronology | ||||
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| Singles from And the Glass Handed Kites | ||||
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And the Glass Handed Kites is the fourth studio album by Danish band Mew, released 19 September 2005 in Denmark, 24 September 2005 in the United Kingdom and 25 July 2006 in the United States on Sony BMG.[1][2][3] This was the last Mew album to feature bassist Johan Wohlert, who left the band the following year to focus on being a father.[4]
Contents |
And the Glass Handed Kites was composed as a single continuous suite. Critics have likened the album to one long song due to the tracks' unnoticed transitions.[5]
And the Glass Handed Kites' sound has been compared to Sigur Ros, Dinosaur Jr., Ride, a concept album and progressive rock.[6][5][7][8] In fact, the album features Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis contributing backing vocals on the tracks "Why Are You Looking Grave?" and "An Envoy to the Open Fields."[9]
And the Glass Handed Kites peaked at #2 on Denmark's Tracklisten.[10] Four singles were released for the album: "Apocalypso," "Special," "Why Are You Looking Grave?" and "The Zookeeper's Boy." Despite originally not having been released as a single, the track "The Zookeeper's Boy" gained massive popularity with the biggest radio station in Denmark, P3, reaching #1 on the radio's Tjeklisten charts from October 9, 2005 through November 6, 2005.[11][12] The track was voted "Hit of the Year" by Gaffa readers, with another Mew song ("Special") coming in second.[13] "The Zookeeper's Boy" was later released as a single in 2006.[14]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | link |
| Drowned in Sound | (9/10) link |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B) link |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.4/10) link |
| PopMatters | (7/10) link |
And the Glass Handed Kites has been well received by critics. James Christopher Monger of Allmusic gave the album a positive review, writing "Fans of OK Computer-era Radiohead, My Bloody Valentine, and Disintergration-era Cure will find And the Glass Handed Kites one of the most breathtaking things to come along since the dawn of the dream pop/post-punk genres themselves."[6] Drowned in Sound's Jordan Dowling also gave And the Glass Handed Kites a positive review, writing "If you are looking for an album that you can put on for a couple minutes to fill time then you'd do better to look elsewhere, but if you want to be transported to an ethereal demi-world stuck between real life and dreams then ensure you purchase this. A masterpiece of overstated proportions, which is the greatest concept of all."[5] Pitchfork Media's Nitsuh Abebe praised the album's epic feel and called the album "a terrific accomplishment."[8] However, the same website criticized the album cover, naming it one of the worst album covers of 2006.[15]
In a more mixed review, Conrad Amenta of Cokemachineglow.com wrote "The real shame is that on this album... the songs become secondary to the gesture. They are denied a sense of finality or, in And the Glass Handed Kite’s case, are sometimes deprived of an ending altogether." Amenta concluded: "The band does have the musical ability, their songs are reasonably well constructed, and the melodies are there. It’s only the ridiculous costume of importance they wear so self-consciously that’ll keep them from ever joining the party."[16]
The album has won several music prizes in Denmark, including four Danish Music Awards.[17] Gaffa named And the Glass Handed Kites the best Danish album of 2005.[18] The album also helped Mew win awards outside of Denmark, with the band winning the 2005 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Danish Act. Pitchfork Media ranked the song "The Zookeeper's Boy" #92 on its list of the top 100 tracks of 2006.[19]
All songs written and composed by Mew.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Circuitry of the Wolf" | 2:45 |
| 2. | "Chinaberry Tree" | 3:33 |
| 3. | "Why Are You Looking Grave? (features vocals by J Mascis)" | 3:50 |
| 4. | "Fox Cub" | 1:15 |
| 5. | "Apocalypso" | 4:46 |
| 6. | "Special" | 3:12 |
| 7. | "The Zookeeper's Boy" | 4:43 |
| 8. | "A Dark Design" | 3:29 |
| 9. | "Saviours of Jazz Ballet (Fear Me, December)" | 3:18 |
| 10. | "An Envoy to the Open Fields (features vocals by J Mascis)" | 3:40 |
| 11. | "Small Ambulance" | 1:05 |
| 12. | "The Seething Rain Weeps for You (Uda Pruda)" | 4:18 |
| 13. | "White Lips Kissed" | 6:45 |
| 14. | "Louise Louisa" | 7:20 |
| Japanese version bonus tracks[9] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 15. | "Forever And Ever" | 4:21 | |||||||
| 16. | "Shiroi Kuchibiruno Izanai" | 5:34 | |||||||
The following people contributed to And the Glass Handed Kites:[20]
| Chart (2005/2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Danish Album Charts | 2[10] |
| Finnish Album Charts | 4[10] |
| Norwegian Album Charts | 4[10] |
| Swedish Album Charts | 36[10] |
| Year | Song | Peak positions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [21] |
Den [22][23][24][14] |
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| 2005 | "Apocalypso" | 75 | — | |||||||||
| 2005 | "Special" | 46 | — | |||||||||
| 2006 | "Why Are You Looking Grave?" | 53 | 20 | |||||||||
| 2006 | "The Zookeeper's Boy" | — | 13 | |||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||||
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