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

Mew is a Danish art rock band formed in 1995. 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 either their fifth or their seventh album (it depends on whether you want to count the re-releases with bonus tracks). After the magnificent ...And the Glass Handed Kites, this album was highly anticipated and the video-blog on the band's website only added to the hype. Has Mew continued in the ambitious, proggy direction taken by their previous masterpiece?

The answer is: partly. No More Stories is more sophisticated and diverse than Frengers (2003) but doesn't have the ambitious content of ...And the Glass Handed Kites, on which every song flowed into the next, full of instrumentals and powerful compositions. If ...And the Glass Handed Kites, with its dark theme of fear and seclusion, is like winter, then No More Stories is like summer: full of upbeat songs and overall a happier atmosphere. No More Stories consists of both simple and straightforward songs and more complex ones with tempo changes and some very interesting ideas. The first track, for example, will reveal a bonus track (with, albeit nonsensical, lyrics!) when played backwards!

This album will probably fail to please hardcore prog fetishists who disregard anything that is catchy or lacks mellotrons, keyboard solos and jazzy improvisations, but it will be very enjoyable for listeners of bands like Muse and Porcupine Tree. The shoegazy vocals, the catchy and awkward rhythms, the tempo changes, the poetic and creative lyrics: there's a lot to like about this album. Mew hasn't moved forward since ...And the Glass Handed Kites, but this album is finely crafted, made with a lot of love and care and filled with ideas and potential.

No More Stories is not an essential album, nor is it particularly amazing. It's simply lovely, unpretentious, playful music that anyone with an open mind will be instantly taken by.