Mew | |
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Mew performing at Roskilde Festival on 7th of July 2012
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Background information | |
Origin | Hellerup, Denmark |
Genres | Alternative rock, experimental rock, art rock, new prog, dream pop, noise pop |
Years active | 1995–present |
Labels | Exlibris Musik, Evil Office, Sony BMG, Sony Music Entertainment |
Website | www |
Members |
Jonas Bjerre Johan Wohlert Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen |
Past members | Bo Madsen |
Mew are a Danish alternative rock band, consisting of Jonas Bjerre (lead vocals), Johan Wohlert (bass) and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen (drums). Johan Wohlert left the band in 2006 before the birth of his first child, but made a return in 2013 while the band were in the studio, before making his first live appearances since his departure in 2014. Guitarist Bo Madsen left the band in June 2015. This was confirmed in a statement on the band's official website on 1 July of the same year.
Whilst their music may be classified as indie and on occasion progressive rock, Bo Madsen said "I usually say we are ‘indie stadium.’ A mix between ‘feelings’ and ‘thinking’ is usually good."
Formed in 1995 in Hellerup, an upper-class suburb of Copenhagen, they had a profound impact on the Danish indie scene, emerging alongside the likes of Carpark North, Swan Lee and Saybia, amongst others, in 2003. They released their debut album A Triumph for Man in April 1997 and its follow-up Half the World is Watching Me in 2000. 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 Frengers, 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. they began to attract wider attention.
Their next album And the Glass Handed Kites was released in Denmark on 19 September 2005, in the United Kingdom and rest of Europe on 26 September, and in the United States 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 Awards) they took home 4 statuettes.