Mew - And The Glass Handed Kites

Probably one of the most unfortunate aspects of being a music reviewer is having to review a genre that you either a) know nothing about, or b) cannot stand. There are very few that I cannot look at objectively, unfortunately New Age is one of them. This Denmark-based band promotes their music under the heading of “dreamy space pop”. But a more accurate label might be '70s concept rock and '80s ethereal new-wave meet New Age. Imagine aurally mixing pez with low-fat milk (a mildly amusing concept mired in the bland and tasteless). The album’s cover art should have been a tip off – similar genre photography with a truly awful band logo. Their website has the feeling of a tribute to the Blair Witch Project. But I am not here to critique their visual marketing, so moving along…there seems to be an audience out there for this kind of music. They are getting some international attention. And yes, one must take into account that Europeans have – on the whole – a different taste when it comes to popular music. But to this reviewer it sounded too contrived. If you are a fan of any of the above listed genres it might be worth checking out. For the rest, there probably won’t be much here to interest you. [www.mewsite.com]