Seinäjoki, Finland (June 14th, 2013)

It’s been three years since Mew have played in Finland and that happened in June 2010 on the main stage of Provinssirock and that daylight show with partly bad sound was not very good, to be honest. This time they performed in this massive 10,000 capacity (YleX) stage where they also had their 2005 show and which was a big turn for the band’s success in Finland. One could say that they became BIG after that show. In 2013, the whole festival only saw 14,000 people on its first day Friday, and some major acts (most notably the British indie sensation Bastille attracting similar type of audience) clashed with Mew, so I would guess that maybe just 5,000 people showed up and this is not that impressive for the band in this particular Nordic country. The tent seemed pretty crowded at least – when looking back from the front row.

Provinssirock was held for the 35th time in a row, so it sure has a history of great bands playing there, even when the town of Seinäjoki is some four hour drive from the South where capital city Helsinki lies. It had rained quite a bit before the show so festival-goers were not in the warmest of moods, but the first rows showed a lot of dancing still. It was not pushy anywhere, because the tent was not full. The setlist was similar to the one of Hultsfred Festival’s just a day earlier. The whole show’s running time was only 65 minutes and thus being the shortest Mew show on Finnish soil in a decade. Actually the festival had given them an hour only, but Mew played a little overtime. Something you must be careful with at festivals where schedules must be kept.

As they had done during the two nights prior to this, they opened with Making Friends which – according to the band – looks like to be the final title for the song which still has unfinished lyrics. Klassen is not the final title (as you already knew), but the song is also not ready yet. The band promises it to be even bigger and more epic. More epic than what it already is? Awesome. I witnessed a few crying spectators during the finale of Klassen. It’s gonna work so well. Making Friends just two nights earlier was something that needed time to really grow on you, and now I can’t get it out of my head. Usually the best Mew songs are the ones that require tens and tens of listenings before they really open up. Those are the ones with actual staying power.

In between Making Friends, Jonas Bjerre once again said “welcome to our show” and this is what they want to do on this mini-tour. A show relying on their old hits and doing it – apart from flashing lights – without any visual animations. It’s their stripped “farewell” to the old Mew. They even – very commonly – finished with Comforting Sounds. That’s something I don’t expect to happen often once the new album comes out. Bo Madsen jumped on the massive loudspeakers locate close to the stage and the audience, and people loved it. Now… I think the band is about to renew themselves in an unexpected way. At Provinssirock they also had very limited stage time, so no speeches were made in between songs. Just hits after hits – spiced up with a couple of new tracks. Also, there was no time to let people wait for the encores. There was no gap, so let’s call this show “encoreless”.

The sound was very good overall even when the band had technical problems with their own gear and had to use rented equipments that didn’t quite work either. New Terrain apparently didn’t have the bass they wanted, but no-one noticed.

Above are the actual lyrics for Medley’s bit of an unknown song. Little chat with the band revealed that the upcoming album will probably be a little difficult for many, but that it will also contain the “easy” pop songs in the style of Special and Beach. And when is the album coming out? November, the EARLIEST, but the release date may very well jump into Spring 2014. Who knows? Now they have no deadlines as they had with the previous three studio albums. So, let them have all the time in the world. Do not expect a proper Nordic tour for 2013 either. That will happen after the album is out. Producer Michael Beinhorn is returning to Copenhagen studio soon-ish, as Mew have recorded a little over half of the songs at this point. No serious mixing has been done to any of them yet.

I will leave you with a thought: do you think our beloved Bamse the Bear is dead and buried? Finland’s national animal is a bear and they are protected. Still, we couldn’t find him.

Text: Tero Heikkinen
Photos: Dabo De Lira

Provinssirock setlist:
Making Friends / Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy / Snow Brigade / Apocalypso / Saviours of Jazz Ballet / Medley (of Koor, The Zookeeper’s Boy and The Seething Rain Weeps For You) / Klassen / Am I Wry? No / 156 / Circuitry of the Wolf / Chinaberry Tree / New Terrain (new version) / Comforting Sounds

PS: People with Finnish language skills, read this recent interview with Jonas.

Two shows have been added for Mew’s 2013 tour. They will be held in two of the biggest Russian cities, Moscow and St. Petersberg. Mew have played in Russia only once before and that was in 2006 when they performed a show at 35mm Concert Hall in Moscow. This was the venue where Behind the Drapes was played as an exclusive – until it was played again recenly at Store VEGA.

November 29th, 2013 – Zal Ozhidaniya (St. Petersburg, Russia)
December 1st, 2013 – Izvestiya Hall (Moscow, Russia)

Although the band is not touring extensively this year, more for 2013 will still be announced. Soon.

Copenhagen, Denmark (June 12th, 2013)

Bo Madsen said on Facebook that they have not played many shows lately. Yes, it’s so true. This was only the sixth live show in almost three years. In 2011 they didn’t play at all and last Summer only saw five performances and they were all more or less similar.

As was expected from last night’s show in their hometown, Mew opened with a new song that is currently called Making Friends. Whether the title will be the final one, only time will tell, but they do sing about making friends so maybe it will be. The album is only a few months away anyway. This was a slower song that had a very offbeat rhythm. Something where Mew are no strangers. It also came with a weird creaking guitar sound that was probably just due to some technical issues, being the first track and all. To me, Making Friends probably needs a few more listenings to really grow on me. It didn’t hit me on first hearing in the same way that Klassen did last Summer, for example. Oh, and how the aforementioned track has developed in the last year. It is now a completely different song with a couple of new melodies that make it sound really epic. Maybe on the upcoming album it will be one of the longest tracks, because this live version was already about six minutes long. Still being shorter than the previous version of Klassen.

Making Friends was played with all the venue lights still on, by the way. And the moment Special hit, the lights when out and only the stage lights were on. I can honestly say that Special has never kicked in this effectively before. Very cool thing to do. Also (just a fun little detail), for this new opening song, all other players were on stage before guitarist’ arrival, and when has that happened before with Mew? Uhm, never? Usually the singer is the one to be seen last.

The sound in 1,500 capacity Store VEGA was absolutely stunning so it’s no wonder that it’s one of the more popular venues in Copenhagen. But is it too small for Mew? After last Summer’s Roskilde Festival everything feels small, I guess. Needless to say, this show was sold out. The bass was really loud at times so I think I made a good choice by standing way in the back. Klassen rocked, and it didn’t really “rock” before. Jonas Bjerre’s voice was very audible and it was in top form. They also had mixed up the stage setting for themselves a little. This time Silas Graae and Bastian Juel were on the right side of the stage, Bo and Nick Watts on the left, Jonas still being in the middle, naturally.

As always, Bo found a lot of time to improvise and that’s basically the only place where Mew does that, apart from random speeches in between songs. Actually they could’ve improvised a lot at Store VEGA if they had wanted because they didn’t – for some odd reason – use the visual backdrops at all. Do they want to show us that their songs can do just fine without them (and they can) and/or are they planning to do something bigger, something new for the future shows? I believe that something special is about to happen soon. Not at Hultsfred Festival today, of course, because that show was played in daytime and the audience had to stand in the rain. Unfortunately. So, that couldn’t be one of their best shows.

Then there was this new Medley that consisted of that previously heard bit from an untitled track. We call this bit Koor, but also The Zookeeper’s Boy and The Seething Rain Weeps For You (for the first time ever) were thrown in here. Mew said that they haven’t played Behind the Drapes in years, and that is true. In fact it did make a rare appearance in Moscow (of all places), but other than that it’s been a decade since they’ve played this live. I welcome the return of this song whole-heartedly.

New Terrain is one of my personal favourites from No More Stories and the song made a glorious return in a very different form. A long intro and a rather violent ending to it. You have to hear this to believe the “brutality” of it. Amazing version. Tomorrow we (MewX.info) will be in Finland for Provinssirock and we will back with a review. Until then…

Text: Tero Heikkinen
Photos: Dabo De Lira
Photo Gallery

Store VEGA setlist:
Making Friends / Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy / Snow Brigade / She Spider / Apocalypso / Saviours of Jazz Ballet / Medley (of Koor, The Zookeeper’s Boy and The Seething Rain Weeps For You) / Klassen / Hawaii / Am I Wry? No / 156 / Eight Flew Over, One Was Destroyed —– Circuitry of the Wolf / Chinaberry Tree / New Terrain (new version) / Behind the Drapes / Comforting Sounds

And from today (June 13th, 2013)…

Hultsfred Festival setlist:
Making Friends / Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy / Snow Brigade / Apocalypso / Saviours of Jazz Ballet / Medley (of Koor, The Zookeeper’s Boy and The Seething Rain Weeps For You) / Klassen / Am I Wry? No / 156 —– Circuitry of the Wolf / Chinaberry Tree / New Terrain (new version) / Comforting Sounds

www.sensoryspaces.com

Today, while Mew is playing their first summer show in Copenhagen, B&O PLAY have launched the official website for the new music experience app called “Sensory Spaces”. The full version will be available later this summer, leading up to the first single off Mew’s new album. A lovely fragment of a new song is layered upon a beautifully cinematic black and white video of the band, beneath which you can sign up to be notified when the full experience begins.

Mew and B&O PLAY Announce Music App

The critically acclaimed band and the renowned audio- and television manufacturer have teamed up in a global campaign that involves the co-creation of the innovative music application Sensory Spaces. The first teaser is to be released this Wednesday.

Building appreciation for sound and setting new standards for band/brand meetings by providing new value for everybody. Those ambitions are behind the remarkable corporation between the celebrated band Mew and the award-winning audio brand B&O PLAY by Bang & Olufsen. The campaign will roll in the months to come, and an essential part is the application Sensory Spaces. This has been announced during New Music Seminar in New York.

The music application will be an engaging experience letting you navigate – using hearing and movement – through spaces containing elements of music from the Danish band Mew. Thus, this experience is both a path into the heart of Mew’s universe and a new platform showcasing the significance of quality sound.

The full application for smartphone and tablet will be released in August leading up to Mew’s forthcoming single, however a teaser site will be launched at www.sensoryspaces.com on June 12 at 7 PM CET.

- The music experience is not just music, but also the world you create around the music. We want to add colours and dimensions to that world, says guitarist in Mew Bo Madsen.

Corporate vice president for B&O PLAY Henrik Taudorf Lorensen says:

- We wish to encourage and share the thrilling experience of listening carefully to music. And through that we want to celebrate the aspects of quality in both products and music. Ultimately that is what B&O PLAY’s products do: Provide a better quality through both the reproduction of the music and the design.

Working with Mew and B&O PLAY in this project is Danish agency VOLUME who specializes in partnerships between artists and brands. CCO and co-founder Johannes Dybkjær Andersson underlines the ground-breaking nature of this partnership.

- We are dealing with a unique campaign: A creative meeting built on shared values with an outcome that seeks to have direct relevance to both Mew’s hundreds of thousands of fans and the B&O PLAY customers. If you want to truly engage with the music scene as a brand, you need to earn your way by providing new and meaningful content. And that is the core of this partnership.

In an effort to make MewX.info the authoritative source for Mew information, we have been hard at work putting together the most comprehensive Mew Discography on the internet. Since the departure of the much-loved comfortingsounds.com there hasn’t been one single place where all of that information is organized, and we aim to fill that void.

The visual design, coding, scanning, and image editing were done over the past several weeks by myself, Ann Lancaster. Many thanks go out to all those offering their many years of knowledge and assistance to get this project launched: Hyunji Choi, Tero Heikkinen, Philip Bo Pedersen, Kim Vermeer, Frederik Voss, and Emi Wakatsuki. I’ve lived and breathed this discography but it was indeed a group effort!

In the coming weeks, we will be continuing to fill in any missing information including lyrics, cover images, and version data. So, please have a look around! I hope you enjoy viewing the discography as much as I enjoyed working on it!

Check out the updated Mew Discography section here!

Ann Lancaster

Mew will play four consecutive shows next month…

Wednesday, June 12th – Store VEGA (Copenhagen, Denmark)

This is Mew’s only solo show in June and it’s expected to be the longest of the four. Some new songs from the upcoming album will be played here for the first time. Capacity of this legendary venue is more than 1.500 and this show has been sold out for weeks now. Danish Kirstine Stubbe Teglbjærg will support Mew, and she used to be the singer in Blue Foundation before going solo in 2009. Mew’s last live performance in their hometown Copenhagen was seen a year ago at Bremen Teater, but it’s been a while since they’ve played at Store VEGA. That happened back in June, 2005.

Showtime: 21:00 (MewX will provide a review and a setlist)

Thursday, June 13th – Hultsfred Festival (Stoxa, Sweden)

Moved from the small town of Hultsfred, the festival is now located in Stoxa, just 40 minutes from Stockholm city central and very close to Arlanda airport. This is logistically great for bands and random foreign tourists, but it didn’t come without criticism. Many Swedes are not crazy about the capital city stealing all the big musical events. Last time that Mew played a show at Hultsfred Festival was in 2005, but the last show in Stockholm was seen in 2009. Phoenix (FRA), Two Door Cinema Club (IRE) also play on Thursday, among many many others.

Showtime: 15:45 (MewX will provide a setlist)

Friday, June 14th – Provinssirock (Seinäjoki, Finland)

It’s been three years since Mew have performed a show in Finland and it took place at this very same festival. The band will play in a huge tent called YleX Stage and the thirstiest festival-goers may enjoy the show from Tuborg Bar located right next to the tent. You could get a double dose of Denmark that way, although prices will be very Finnish. Bring your wallet and may it be heavy. In some previous years, most of the shows at YleX Stage have been filmed and shown either live or later on Finnish television. After Mew, you could catch Bad Religion (USA), Blur (UK) and many others. In 2013, Provinssirock celebrates its 35th year.

Showtime: 20:30 (MewX will provide a review and a setlist)

Saturday, June 15th – Bergenfest (Bergen, Norway)

Bergenfest has reserved only 60 minutes for Mew and that is hardly enough for the band (nor for fans), but Norwegians like to close their festival gates/bars earlier than in other Nordic countries. Plenen is the main stage of the festival and Mew will be the last act of the night. Bergenfest’s (age restriction 18!!!) closing day doesn’t have a particularly impressive line-up, but Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires (USA) should be recommended. 2009 was the year when Mew played in the city of Bergen the last time. MewX website will be seven years old on June 15th, just so you know.

Showtime: 23:15 (MewX will provide a setlist)

Hello. Just a quickie, but it’s a goodie.

Tonight the Icelandic vocal group LYRIKA (that consists of members from Björk’s all-female choir Graduale Nobili) will sing a snippet of an upcoming Mew song. This performance in London will be filmed and the video is going to be released very soon. ‘Koor’ is a made up word inspired by the Danish word for ‘choir’ (which is ‘kor’). The song itself doesn’t have a title yet, but this part is currently being called Koor. It’s a tiny, but important part of the song that – naturally – will be released at some point.

Photo by Danni Travn.

LYRIKA will also perform The Zookeeper’s Boy tonight.

UPDATE: The video for this performance can be found here.

We are working on a new Discography section. It will be bloody awesome.

…but you may have to wait a while. The show’s in November.

According to Ja Ja Ja Music’s website, Mew are playing at Camden’s Roundhouse in London – at a festival held on November 8th and 9th. Ja Ja Ja is a big fan of Nordic music and the venue is apparently quite small (capacity around 3.000), so be quick with the tickets that cost only £25 per person.  Mew will headline on the first day (Friday) along with múm, and it’s been more than four years since the Danes have played in London. Saturday’s headliners are to be announced.

More news on Mew’s upcoming single in just a bit… stay tuned (UPDATE: Read the post above).

The long-awaited sixth album is about to be reality in a matter of months. The previous album, No More Stories, was released in August 2009 and before that the gaps between albums have always been 2-4 years. The next yet-untitled album was originally rumoured to come out sooner, but we know now that this approximately four-and-a-half-year gap will, in fact, be the longest for Mew. So far.

Pre-production phase is coming to its end and recording will begin in Copenhagen next month. This will be the first time that Mew are going in and out of the studio and playing live shows in-between (in June and August). For this album Mew will be collaborating with many talented people, but Michael Beinhorn is the main producer. The aforementioned producer was the guy behind And the Glass Handed Kites which many consider to be Mew’s best-sounding album. It is mixed very low, as we know, and playing it in a night club forces the DJ to go easy on the bass level. Whether this album will contain big rock anthems or not, we’ll just have to wait to see. Previously Beinhorn has also produced albums for Aerosmith, Marilyn Manson, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Korn among many many others.

Michael Beinhorn visiting Mew in Copenhagen six months ago.

Since Beinhorn is producing it looks like Mew will also record in United States – once again. The hour-long making of Kites on the Live In Copenhagen DVD was a juicy extra and maybe we’ll see something similar later. At around 55 minutes, Kites is Mew’s longest record and something tells me that the upcoming one won’t be a short album either. We know it’s going to be epic.

For previous albums Mew have given us a song or two (as digital download, single or EP) months before the full-length album. Similarly, this is also bound to happen with the band’s first independent studio album in more than a decade. Last Summer’s live shows already gave us two unfinished songs, Boy and Klassen (working titles), and it’s a near certainty that the latter will end up on the album in recognisable form. But it has changed considerably over the last few months, I keep hearing.

This June, Mew are expected to play a couple of new songs that are pretty much finished. They played New Terrain, Repeaterbeater, Introducing Palace Players and Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy live months before No More Stories came out. They also played 4-5 songs from Kites a few months before its actual release, so why would this be any different?

Tero Heikkinen