Mew is a
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
alternative musicAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band consisting of
Jonas BjerreJonas Bjerre Terkelsbøl is the lead singer and guitarist of Danish rock-trio Mew. Jonas Bjerre is also a visual artist and creates animated videos for Mew's live shows....
, Bo Madsen, and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen. Bassist
Johan WohlertJohan Wohlert is the former bass player of Danish indie band Mew. He left the band on 11 April 2006, because he did not feel that he could be a rock star and a good father at the same time...
was also a founding member of the band, but left in 2006. Whilst their music may be classified as
indieIn music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
and on occasion
progressive rockProgressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, the band's guitarist Bo Madsen refers to the band as "the world's only indie stadium band".
History
Formed in 1994 in
HellerupHellerup is a Danish town of Region Hovedstaden, located in the Gentofte Municipality in Denmark. It is bordered to the east by the sound Øresund and to the South by Copenhagen and counted among the most affluent areas in Denmark....
, an upper-class suburb of
CopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, they had a profound impact on the Danish indie scene, emerging alongside the likes of
Carpark NorthCarpark North is a Danish electronic rock band. The band was formed in Aarhus, Denmark on 28 July 1999 by Lau Højen , Søren Balsner and Morten Thorhauge...
,
Swan LeeSwan Lee was a Danish band featuring Pernille Rosendahl on vocals. The name was taken from a Syd Barrett song.In 1996 Pernille Rosendahl formed a band with guitarist Jonas Struck, drummer Emil Jorgensen and her boyfriend Tim Christensen. After Christensen left in 1999, the remaining trio continued...
and
Saybia-History:From 1998 to 2000 they privately recorded three EPs before signing to EMI in the spring of 2001. In the summer EMI released the 6 track EP "Saybia". In September 2001 the band went to Sweden to record their debut album The Second You Sleep...
, amongst others, in 2003. At the 2003 Danish Music Critics Award Show, Mew won the awards for "Album of the Year" and "Band of the Year".
Their first major commercial success came with
FrengersFrengers is the third album by Danish band Mew, released in April 2003.The title is a portmanteau of the words friend and stranger...
, released in 2003, described as "a work of quiet brilliance, aiming for the epic without straying into the bombastic, offering cerebral arrangements while keeping things accessible." The album was well received. After a European tour supporting
R.E.M.R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
they began to attract wider attention. Their next album
And the Glass Handed KitesAnd 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...
was released in Denmark on 19 September 2005, in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and rest of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on 26 September, and in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on 25 July 2006. The album received critical acclaim, with Mew described as making "dreamy thunderstorm pop". They were MTV Asia "Buzz-Worthy" as of January, 2006, and at the DMA06 (
Danish Music AwardsThe Danish Music Awards is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called IFPI-prisen until 1991, when it changed its name to Dansk Grammy . The current name was given in 2001, after the American Grammy Awards took copyright on the name Grammy....
) they took home 4 statuettes.
On 11 April 2006, Wohlert left the band to spend more time with his girlfriend, Pernille Rosendahl from the now dissolved band Swan Lee, who was to give birth to their baby boy in May 2006. The two would later go on to form a duo, The Storm.
The band tours with Nick Watts (formerly of UK indie band
HeadswimHeadswim was an indie-rock band formed in Essex, England by Daniel Glendining and his brother Tom Glendining , along with their friends Clovis Taylor and Nick Watts . The band had previously been known as Blinder but changed their name in 1992.-History:The band’s early sound was influenced by...
) as their keyboardist, and Bastian Juel (who used to act as a studio and live bassist for Swan Lee and also played bass on
Tina DicoTina Dico is a singer and songwriter inspired by artists such as Tracy Chapman, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.In Denmark she performs under her real name, Tina Dickow.- Beginnings :...
's EP Far) recently joined them as their live bassist. However, he is not an official replacement for Johan and the band has said they will return to the studio with just the three original members.
The band finished touring for And the Glass Handed Kites in the summer of 2007. They returned to
BrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in May 2008 in order to begin recording their next record, and tapped
Rich CosteyRich Costey is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with many bands including Muse, Cave In, Thursday, Franz Ferdinand, Glasvegas, The Mars Volta, Doves, Bloc Party, Ontronik , Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance, Supergrass, Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, Nine...
(who produced their breakthrough album, Frengers) once again as producer.
The band's fifth album
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 AwayNo 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 UK on 24 August, the U.S...
was released on August 17, 2009 in Scandinavia, August 24 in the UK, and August 25 in the US.
In 2009, the band supported
Nine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
for various tour dates across Europe.
On October 25, 2010, Mew released their first compilation album entitled,
Eggs Are FunnyEggs Are Funny is the first compilation album from the Danish Alternative band, Mew. It was released in Scandinavia on 25 October 2010 and Internationally on 11 January 2011 as a digital download. The compilation features 14 songs from previous albums as well as one new song, "Do You Love It?"...
, which featured 14 songs from previous albums as well as one new song, "Do You Love It?". The track list was compiled of what Mew consider to be their "best work".
On an episode of HBO's Eastbound and Down, airing 10/31/2010, "Comforting Sounds" from the album "Frengers" played over the end of the show and into the closing credits.
Studio albums
1 The name in its entirety is: 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.
EPs
- The Zookeeper's Boy EP (2006)
- Live Session EP (2007) Released exclusively on iTunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
- No More Stories EP
- References :...
(2009)
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Peak chart position |
Album |
DEN
|
FIN
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NOR
|
SWE
|
UK The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
|
| 1997 |
"She Came Home for Christmas She Came Home for Christmas is the second single by Danish alternative rock band Mew. The song was released after "I Should Have Been a Tsin-Tsi ". The song originally appeared on the band's debut album A Triumph for Man in 1997, and was later included on Frengers, a compilation album of sorts, in...
" [a] |
— |
— |
— |
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55 |
A Triumph for Man A Triumph for Man is the first album by Danish band Mew, released in April 1997 by the Danish record label Exlibris Musik.Only 2,000 copies of the album were printed initially and prices for an original copy have reached upwards of US$200 on auction site eBay.On 18 September 2006 A Triumph for Man...
|
| 2000 |
"King Christian" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Half the World Is Watching Me Half the World Is Watching Me is the second album by Danish alternative rock band Mew, released on their own record label Evil Office in 2000. The album was originally printed in about only 5,000 copies, but has been reissued twice for wider distribution. The most recent dates to 6 August 2007 and...
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| "Her Voice Is Beyond Her Years" |
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— |
— |
— |
| "Mica" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
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| "Am I Wry? No" [b] |
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16 |
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47 |
| 2003 |
"Comforting Sounds" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
48 |
Frengers Frengers is the third album by Danish band Mew, released in April 2003.The title is a portmanteau of the words friend and stranger...
|
| "156" |
— |
— |
— |
11 |
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| 2005 |
"Apocalypso" |
— |
— |
— |
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75 |
And the Glass Handed Kites 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...
|
| "Special" |
— |
— |
— |
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46 |
| 2006 |
"Why Are You Looking Grave?" |
20 |
— |
— |
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53 |
| "The Zookeeper's Boy" |
— |
— |
13 |
— |
80 |
| 2009 |
"Introducing Palace Players" [c] |
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— |
— |
— |
— |
No More Stories... 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 UK on 24 August, the U.S...
|
| "Repeaterbeater" |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2010 |
"Beach" [c] |
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a
^ Re-released in 2000, 2002 and 2003. Peaked at #76 on the UK Singles Chart in 2002.
- b^ Re-released in 2003. Peaked at #137 on UK Singles Chart on its first release.
- c^ Released as music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
only