And the Glass Handed Kites by Mew

And the Glass Handed Kites, Mew's fourth album, came out on 19 September 2005, the Copenhagen band's follow-up to the international breakthrough of Frengers. Michael Beinhorn produced it, and the band built it as one unbroken suite, the tracks bleeding into each other so seamlessly that it plays like a single, shape-shifting song.

Jonas Bjerre's high, dreamy voice floats over his keyboards and guitar, Bo Madsen's guitars swing from glassy chime to grinding weight, and Johan Wohlert on bass and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen on drums steer through odd, lurching turns without losing the melody. It's indie rock with a prog streak and a taste for grandeur, and "Special" is the moment it snaps into a hook. At home the record collected four Danish Music Awards, and in 2005 Mew took the MTV Europe prize for Best Danish Act. It was Wohlert's last album before he stepped away in 2006; No More Stories... came next.

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