And the Glass Handed Kites is the fourth studio album by Danish alternative rock band Mew. It was released on 19 September 2005, and in the United States on 25 July 2006.Mew – And The Glass Handed Kites: Mew: Amazon.co.uk. Amazon.com. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
And the Glass Handed Kites was composed as a single continuous suite, and critics have likened the album to one long song due to the tracks' unnoticed transitions.
The album has won several music prizes in Denmark, including four Danish Music Awards.Torp, Nicolai. Danish Music Awards 2006 – og vinderne blev.... Soundvenue. 11 March 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2011. The album also helped Mew win awards outside of Denmark, with the band winning the 2005 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Danish Act.
The Japanese bonus track, "Shiroi Kuchibiruno Izanai" is an alternate version of "White Lips Kissed" with the lyrics and title translated into Japanese.
Critical reception 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 Disintegration-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."Monger, James. And the Glass Handed Kites. AllMusic. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
Pitchfork reviewer Nitsuh Abebe praised the album's epic feel and called the album "a terrific accomplishment". The same website also criticized the album cover, naming it one of the worst album covers of 2006.Schreiber, Ryan. Top 25 Worst Album Covers of 2006 . Pitchfork Media. 14 December 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
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 Kites 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."Amenta, Conrad. Mew: And the Glass Handed Kites . Cokemachineglow.com. 2 February 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
Gaffa named And the Glass Handed Kites the best Danish album of 2005.Svidt, Ole. GAFFA kårer årets album 2005. Gaffa. 1 December 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
Commercial performance And the Glass Handed Kites peaked at number 2 on Denmark's Tracklisten. 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 number 1 on the radio's Tjeklisten charts from 9 October 2005 through 6 November 2005.P3 – Tjelisten 9/10 2005. P3. Retrieved 3 August 2011.P3 – Tjelisten 6/11 2005. P3. Retrieved 3 August 2011. The track was voted "Hit of the Year" by Gaffa readers, with another Mew song ("Special") coming in second.Tuxen, Henrik. GAFFA-Prisen 2005: Mew og Coldplay topscorere. Gaffa. 4 January 2006. Retrieved 2 August 2011. "The Zookeeper's Boy" was later released as a single in 2006.MEW – THE ZOOKEEPER'S BOY (SONG) . danishcharts.dk. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
Track listing
PersonnelMewJonas Bjerre – vocals, guitars, piano, synthesizers Bo Madsen – guitars Johan Wohlert – bass, guitars Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen – drums, percussionAdditional musiciansLasse Mauritzen – french horn on tracks 2, 3, 14 J Mascis – additional vocals on track 3, additional background vocals on track 10 Bo Rande – flugelhorn (tracks 2, 3), trumpet (tracks 13, 14) Rebecca Stark – soprano vocals on tracks 2, 8 Damon Tutunjian – additional guitar on track 5 Boys' choir on track 13 Mathias Aagaard Christensen Frederik Peter Jakobsen Niklas Emil De Fries Frederik Stadager LarsenTechnical' Michael Beinhorn – producer, engineer Joshua – producer on track 13 Kevin Bacon – mixing Frank Filipetti – engineer George Marino – mastering Mads Nørgård – engineer Jonathan Quarmby – mixing Felipe Tichauer – engineer
Charts Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for And the Glass Handed Kites Chart (2005–2006) Peakposition
References
External links And the Glass Handed Kites page on the official Mew website