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No More Stories...

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No More Stories...
Studio album by
Mew
Released17 August 2009
Recorded2008
StudioBrooklyn Recording and Electric Lady Studios, New York City, and Evil Office, Copenhagen, Denmark
GenreAlternative rock, indie rock, dream pop
Length53:36
LabelEvil Office, Columbia
ProducerRich Costey, Mew
Mew chronology
And the Glass Handed Kites
(2005) 		No More Stories...
(2009) 		+ −
(2015)
Singles from No More Stories...
  1. "Introducing Palace Players"
    Released: 28 May 2009
  2. "Repeaterbeater"
    Released: 25 June 2009
  3. "Beach"
    Released: April 2010
  4. "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy"
    Released: 3 May 2010
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The A.V. Club(A)[2]
BBC(positive)[3]
Drowned in Sound8/10[4]
Gaffa[5]
Gigwise[6]
NME[7]
Paste8/10[8]
Pitchfork Media8.1/10[9]
PopMatters[10]

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, often shortened down to No More Stories..., is the fifth studio album by the Danish alternative rock band Mew. It was released in Scandinavia on 17 August, the United Kingdom on 24 August, the United States on 25 August, and Japan on 26 August 2009.[11]

No More Stories... is produced by Rich Costey who also produced their breakthrough album Frengers, and is the band's first album as an official trio after bass player Johan Wohlert left to spend time with his family,[12] before rejoining the band prior to the release of + −.[citation needed] It is the band's only album to not feature Wohlert.

According to lead vocalist Jonas Bjerre, this album is happier, "dancier", and more upbeat than its predecessor, And the Glass Handed Kites, which had a dark theme of fear.[citation needed]

Bjerre explained the unusually long title of the album to Gaffa: "We originally wanted a short title for the album but we couldn't find sufficiently redemptive words. The final title is the lyrics to the short intermezzo 'Hawaii Dream', and when Bo [Madsen] suggested that we used the complete text as a title it didn't take him long to convince Silas [Utke Graae Jørgensen] and myself. It was like finding the missing piece in a puzzle".[13]

"Introducing Palace Players", the first single off No More Stories... was first released on their MySpace page on 28 May 2009. It features Swirlies vocalist/guitarist Damon Tutunjian on bass guitar. Other than its inclusion as the lead-off track on the No More Stories EP, it has not been released as a physical single.

The opening track, "New Terrain", if played backwards reveals another song entitled "Nervous" which is added as a bonus track to the vinyl edition of the album. The lyrics were posted as a poem on their Danish record company Evil Office's website.[14]

Critical reception

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No More Stories... was met with universal acclaim upon release. The album was extremely well received in the band's native Denmark upon release, getting top scores in reviews from most music magazines, including Gaffa[5] and Soundvenue.[15] Website Metacritic calculated an average score of 79 out of 100 from 17 professional reviews.[16] The A.V. Club gave it an A (the highest note), praising that "Mew really does inhabit a place where few contemporaries can be found."[2] The independent review site Pitchfork Media gave the album an 8.1/10, citing that "Mew has succeeded in developing a good sound from some of the least hip ingredients imaginable", while comparing the album to progressive rock bands of the late 1970s.[9] British music weekly NME gave the album 8/10, going on to say that, "Always inventive, often beautiful and occasionally totally sublime, Mew have always stood out from the pack."[7] Slant Magazine gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, stating that "Mew is not as thoughtful or smart as they think they are, but the force of their conviction is inspiring."[17]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Mew

No More Stories... track listing
No.TitleLength
1."New Terrain"3:14
2."Introducing Palace Players"4:46
3."Beach"2:46
4."Repeaterbeater"2:33
5."Intermezzo 1"0:29
6."Silas the Magic Car"4:06
7."Cartoons and Macramé Wounds"7:21
8."Hawaii Dream"1:47
9."Hawaii"5:01
10."Vaccine"5:08
11."Tricks of the Trade"4:28
12."Intermezzo 2"1:03
13."Sometimes Life Isn't Easy"5:21
14."Reprise"5:32
Total length:53:36
12" vinyl bonus track
No.TitleLength
15."Nervous"3:14

Personnel

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Mew

[edit]

Additional musicians

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  • Bastian Juel – bass on all songs except "New Terrain", "Introducing Palace Players" and "Tricks of the Trade"
  • Damon Tutunjian – bass on track 2
  • Dr. Nick Watts – additional keyboards on "Introducing Palace Players", "Beach", "Cartoons and Macramé Wounds" and "Reprise"
  • Nico Muhly – string, piano and piccolo/flute arrangements on track 11
  • Mathias Friis-Hansen – additional percussion on "New Terrain", Kalimba on "Hawaii" and "Vaccine", and marimba on "Vaccine"
  • Steve Coleman – alto saxophone on track 13
  • Mari Helgerlikova – additional vocals on track 13
  • Sellasi Dewornu – additional African percussion on track 9
  • Choir on tracks "Introducing Palace Players" and "Cartoons and Macramé Wounds"
    • Anne Christine Berggren
    • Anni Mogensen
    • Nanna Secker Larsch
    • Lianna Quarshie
  • Children's choir on "Silas the Magic Car" and "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy"
    • Mia-Marie Olesen
    • Maria Bruun
    • Fannie Klint
    • Solveig Honore
    • Mathilde Lerentzen
    • Emily Piercy
    • Roselil Hansen
    • Fritjof Nørretranders
    • Sally Risell
    • Vera Kwederis

Technical

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Charts

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Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for No More Stories...
Charts (2009) Peak
position
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[18] 1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[19] 2
Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[20] 64
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[21] 2
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 41
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 110
US Billboard 200[24] 130
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[25] 1
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[26] 21

References

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  1. ^ Monger, James Christopher. "Review: No More Stories Are Told Today Sorry...". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  2. ^ a b Hawthorne, Marc (25 August 2009). "Review: No More Stories...". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  3. ^ Diver, Marc (24 August 2009). "Mew No More Stories... Review". BBC. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  4. ^ Skinner, James (25 August 2009). "Review / Mew: No More Stories...". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  5. ^ a b Madsen, Finn P. "Review: No More Stories...". Gaffa (in Danish). Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  6. ^ O'Hana, Tristan (12 August 2009). "Mew: No More Stories". Gigwise. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  7. ^ a b Chester, Tim (25 August 2009). "Album review: Mew - No More Stories". NME. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  8. ^ Askenase, Julia (25 August 2009). "Mew: No More Stories". Paste. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  9. ^ a b Tangari, Joe (4 September 2009). "Mew: 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". Pitchfork. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  10. ^ Kabran, Michael (2 September 2009). "Mew: 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". PopMatters. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  11. ^ "New Mew Album Details: Extremely Long Title, Crazy Tracklist". Pitchfork. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  12. ^ "Exclusive Album Preview: Mew". Spin. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  13. ^ Elbech, Mikkel (6 August 2009). "Mew - eskapismens musikalske malermestre". Gaffa (in Danish). Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  14. ^ "Nervous". Evil Office. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  15. ^ Borchmann, Jesper (14 August 2009). "Mew – fuldendt brobygning" (in Danish). Soundvenue. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  16. ^ "No More Stories..." Metacritic. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  17. ^ Cotaldo, Jesse (24 August 2009). "Slant Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  18. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Mew – 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". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  19. ^ "Mew: 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" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Mexicancharts.com – Mew – 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". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  21. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Mew – 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". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  22. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Mew – 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". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  23. ^ "Chart Log UK: M - My Vitriol". zobbel.de. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  24. ^ "Mew Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  25. ^ "Mew Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Mew Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
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