{"id":5867,"date":"2017-05-22T14:12:04","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T18:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=5867"},"modified":"2017-05-29T13:40:23","modified_gmt":"2017-05-29T17:40:23","slug":"mew-visuals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/mew-visuals\/","title":{"rendered":"Mew <br>Visuals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mew-visuals.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-5868\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mew-visuals.jpg\" alt=\"Mew, Visuals\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mew-visuals.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mew-visuals-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>While change is inevitable\u2014especially over the course of 20 years\u2014Danish band Mew had its hand forced when founding guitarist Bo Madsen left in 2015 following the release of <i>+-<\/i>. As a result, the group is back to being a trio, as they were when bassist Jonah Wohlert took a break from 2006 to 2013. With no disrespect to Wohlert, Madsen\u2019s guitar playing and arrangements were as signature to Mew\u2019s sound as singer Jonan Bjerre\u2019s vocals. Clearly they had a decision to make: carry on as before or blow the whole thing up? The answer, as <i>Visuals<\/i> (PIAS Recordings) reveals, is that destruction was the way to progression.<\/p>\n<p>And that progression has come quickly. There were six years between <i>+-<\/i> and 2009\u2019s <i>No More Stories\u2026<\/i>, while <i>Visuals<\/i> follows <i>+-<\/i> after only two years. While not unprecedented, there is definitely a sense of urgency, perhaps also reflected in song length. The longest song on <i>Visuals<\/i> just breaks the five-minute mark, notable for a band that would throw down for seven to ten minutes at a time or have an entire album be technically one long song. But the most striking change and the one that may divide the band\u2019s fanbase is that Mew has shrugged off its prog-rock tendencies and thrown its collective hat into the indie guitar-pop ring. While one could make an argument that the band has always had pop elements, this time they went all in. If you like your Mew stadium-sized and full of weird bits and bobs, you\u2019re in for disappointment.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say that Mew has become unrecognizable, but there\u2019s more going on than just cosmetic changes. With Madsen gone, synths have a larger presence in the mix, with the guitar taking a less prominent role. Mew didn\u2019t go completely glossy, but there\u2019s no denying that songs like the surprisingly funky \u201cTwist Quest\u201d and \u201cCandy Piece All Smeared Out,\u201d even with its dirty guitar breakdowns, have put them in a different place.<\/p>\n<p><i>Visuals<\/i> is a really good record, but is it a good Mew record? That\u2019s for fans to argue, but regardless, it\u2019s definitely a step in a different direction. While perhaps not the soundtrack for head-trips, the album is as confident, assured, and interesting as anything the band has ever made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While change is inevitable\u2014especially over the course of 20 years\u2014Danish band Mew had its hand forced when founding guitarist Bo Madsen left in 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,1198,1294],"class_list":["post-5867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-mew","tag-pias-recordings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mew Visuals - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/mew-visuals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mew Visuals - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While change is inevitable\u2014especially over the course of 20 years\u2014Danish band Mew had its hand forced when founding guitarist Bo Madsen left in 2015\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/mew-visuals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-22T18:12:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-29T17:40:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/mew-visuals.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dorian S. 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