No More Stories...
| No More Stories... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Mew | ||||
| Released | 17 August 2009 | |||
| Recorded | Mid to late 2008 at Brooklyn Recording and Electric Lady Studios, New York City, and Evil Office, Copenhagen, Denmark | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, indie rock, progressive rock, dream pop, post-rock | |||
| Length | 53:36 | |||
| Label | Evil Office, Columbia | |||
| Producer | Rich Costey, Mew | |||
| Mew chronology | ||||
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| Singles from No More Stories... | ||||
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No More Stories Are Told Today, I'm Sorry They Washed Away // No More Stories, The World Is Grey, I'm Tired, Let's Wash Away is the fifth studio album by the Danish band Mew. It was released in Scandinavia on 17 August, the United Kingdom on 24 August, the United States on 25 August, and Japan on 26 August 2009.[1]
No More Stories... is produced by Rich Costey who also produced their breakthrough album Frengers, and is the band's first album as an official three-piece after bass player Johan Wohlert left to spend time with his family,[2] before rejoining the band prior to the release of + -.
According to lead vocalist Jonas Bjerre, this album is happier, "dancier", and more upbeat than its predecessor, And the Glass Handed Kites, which had a dark theme of fear.
Bjerre explained the unusually long title of the album to Gaffa: "We originally wanted a short title for the album but we couldn't find sufficiently redemptive words. The final title is the lyrics to the short intermezzo 'Hawaii Dream', and when Bo [Madsen] suggested that we used the complete text as a title it didn't take him long to convince Silas [Utke Graae Jørgensen] and myself. It was like finding the missing piece in a puzzle".[3]
The opening track, "New Terrain", if played backwards reveals another song entitled "Nervous" which is added as a bonus track to the vinyl edition of the album. The lyrics were posted as a poem on their Danish record company Evil Office's website.[4]
Pre-release
The band released information on a few tracks in interviews. According to SPIN.com, "Cartoons and Macramé Wounds" would be a "challenging five-minute opus" that supposedly reversed the traditional Mew formula of a quiet buildup into an epic by starting out gigantically before fizzling away into something more minimal, and "Beach" was called the band's most straightforward song ever. According to the band, they made a more upbeat album and it would not be one extended suite like the predecessor, And the Glass Handed Kites.
Singles
"Introducing Palace Players", the first single off No More Stories... was first released on their MySpace page on 28 May 2009. It features Swirlies vocalist/guitarist Damon Tutunjian on bass guitar. Other than its inclusion as the lead-off track on the No More Stories EP, it has not been released as a physical single.
The second single from the album, entitled "Repeaterbeater", was posted as Free Mp3 of the Day by Spinner.com on 25 June 2009.[5]
"Beach" was remixed by Trentemøller and released on iTunes as the third single in April 2010.[6]
Each single was accompanied by a music video directed by Martin de Thurah.[7]
An edit of "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy" was released as a single on 3 May 2010.[8]
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [9] |
| The A.V. Club | (A)[10] |
| BBC | (positive)[11] |
| Drowned in Sound | [12] |
| Gaffa | [13] |
| Gigwise | [14] |
| NME | [15] |
| Paste | [16] |
| PopMatters | [17] |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.1/10) [18] |
No More Stories... was met with universal acclaim upon release. The album was extremely well received in the band's native Denmark upon release, getting top scores in reviews from most music magazines, including Gaffa[13] and Soundvenue.[19] Website Metacritic calculated an average score of 79 out of 100 from 17 professional reviews.[20] The A.V. Club gave it an A (the highest note), praising that "Mew really does inhabit a place where few contemporaries can be found."[10] The independent review site Pitchfork Media gave the album an 8.1/10, citing that "Mew has succeeded in developing a good sound from some of the least hip ingredients imaginable", while comparing the album to progressive rock bands of the late 1970s.[18] British music weekly NME gave the album 8/10, going on to say that, "Always inventive, often beautiful and occasionally totally sublime, Mew have always stood out from the pack."[15] Slant Magazine gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, stating that "Mew is not as thoughtful or smart as they think they are, but the force of their conviction is inspiring."[21]
Track listing
All tracks written by Mew.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "New Terrain" | 3:14 |
| 2. | "Introducing Palace Players" | 4:46 |
| 3. | "Beach" | 2:46 |
| 4. | "Repeaterbeater" | 2:33 |
| 5. | "Intermezzo 1" | 0:29 |
| 6. | "Silas the Magic Car" | 4:06 |
| 7. | "Cartoons and Macramé Wounds" | 7:21 |
| 8. | "Hawaii Dream" | 1:47 |
| 9. | "Hawaii" | 5:01 |
| 10. | "Vaccine" | 5:08 |
| 11. | "Tricks of the Trade" | 4:28 |
| 12. | "Intermezzo 2" | 1:03 |
| 13. | "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy" | 5:21 |
| 14. | "Reprise" | 5:32 |
| 12" vinyl bonus track | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 15. | "Nervous" | 3:14 |
Personnel
- Jonas Bjerre – electric guitars, synthesizers, harmonium, piano, acoustic guitar
- Bo Madsen – electric guitars, acoustic guitar
- Silas Graae – drums, percussion, African percussion, drum programming
- Steve Coleman – alto saxophone on "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy"
- Sellasi Dewornu – additional African percussion on "Hawaii"
- Marthisa Friis-Hansen – additional percussion on "New Terrain", Kalimba on tracks 9 and 10, and marimba on "Vaccine"
- Mari Helgerlikova – additional vocals on "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy"
- Bastian Juel – bass on tracks 3–10, 12–14
- Nico Muhly – string, piano and piccolo/flute arrangements on "Tricks of the Trade"
- Damon Tutunjian – bass on "Introducing Palace Players"
- Dr. Nick Watts – additional keyboards on tracks 2, 3, 7 and 14
- Choir on tracks 2 and 7
- Anne Berggren
- Anni Mogensen
- Nanna Larsch
- Lianna Quarshie
- Children's choir on tracks 6 and 13
- Mia-Marie Olesen
- Maria Bruun
- Fannie Klint
- Solveig Honore
- Mathilde Lerentzen
- Emily Piercy
- Roselil Hansen
- Fritjof Nørretranders
- Sally Risell
- Vera Kwederis
- Rich Costey - record producer, mixing
- Bob Ludwig - mastering on tracks 2, 6, 7, 14
- Ari Marcopoulos - photography
- Vlado Meller - mastering
- M/M Paris - album cover art and design
- Charlie Stavish - engineering, mixing
- Mark Santangelo - recording assistant
- Alan Mintz and Will Botwin - management
- Noah Goldstein and Ben Liscio - mixing
Chart performance
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Danish Albums Chart[22] | 1 |
| Finnish Albums Chart[23] | 2 |
| Mexican Albums Chart[24] | 64 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart[25] | 2 |
| Swedish Albums Chart[26] | 41 |
| US Billboard 200[27] | 130 |
| US Top Heatseekers[27] | 1 |
References
- ↑ "New Mew Album Details: Extremely Long Title, Crazy Tracklist | News". Pitchfork. 2009-05-15. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ↑ "Exclusive Album Preview: Mew". SPIN. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ↑ Elbech, Mikkel (6 August 2009). "Mew - eskapismens musikalske malermestre" (in Danish). Gaffa. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
- ↑ "Nervous". Evil Office. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
- ↑ "Mew, 'Repeaterbeater' - Free MP3 Download". Spinner. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ↑ Mew: Beach on Facebook by Jonas Bjerre. 20 April 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010
- ↑ "MEW - NEW ALBUM 'NO MORE STORIES' 7th SEPTEMBER 09 + ICA SHOW... | Altsounds.com News". Hangout.altsounds.com. 2009-07-12. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ↑ "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy (Radio Edit) - Single by Mew". iTunes (NO). Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ↑ Monger, James Christopher. "Review: No More Stories Are Told Today Sorry...". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- 1 2 Hawthorne, Marc (25 August 2009). "Review: No More Stories...". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ↑ Diver, Marc (24 August 2009). "Mew No More Stories... Review". BBC. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ↑ Skinner, James (25 August 2009). "Review / Mew: No More Stories...". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- 1 2 Madsen, Finn P. "Review: No More Stories..." (in Danish). Gaffa. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ↑ O'Hana, Tristan (12 August 2009). "Mew: No More Stories". Gigwise. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- 1 2 Chester, Tim (25 August 2009). "Album review: Mew - No More Stories". NME. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ↑ Askenase, Julia (25 August 2009). "Mew: No More Stories". Paste. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ↑ Kabran, Michael (2 September 2009). "Mew: No more stories / Are told today / I'm sorry / They washed away / No more stories / The world is grey / I'm tired / Let's wash away". PopMatters. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- 1 2 Tangari, Joe (4 September 2009). "Mew: No More Stories Are Told Today I'm Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is grey I'm Tired Let's Wash Away". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
- ↑ Borchmann, Jesper (14 August 2009). "Mew – fuldendt brobygning" (in Danish). Soundvenue. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
- ↑ "No More Stories...". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
- ↑ Cotaldo, Jesse (2009-08-24). "Slant Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ↑ "Danish Album Top-40, Week 34 - 2009" (in Danish). Hitlisten.NU. 2009-08-28. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
- ↑ "Suomen virallinen lista: Mew - No More Stories" (in Finnish). YLE.fi. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
- ↑ "Top 100 México, Week 36 - 2009". mexicancharts.com. 2009-10-03. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
- ↑ "Topp 40 Album uke 35, 2009" (in Norwegian). VG-Lista. 2009-08-24. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
- ↑ "Veckolista Album - Vecka 35, 28 augusti 2009" (in Swedish). Sverige Topplistan. 2009-08-28. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
- 1 2 "Heatseekers Albums, September 12, 2009". Billboard. Note: the Billboard 200 position is listed under "Also Charted On". 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2009-09-13.