And The Glass Handed Kites

And the Glass Handed Kites is the fourth studio album by Danish band Mew. It was released 19 September 2005 in Denmark, 26 September 2005 in the rest of Europe and 26 July 2006 in the United States.

Compared to previous Mew albums, this album is unique in that the structure is built upon as if it was a single continuous suite. The album has been called ‘one long song’, an allusion to the tracks’ unnoticed transitions.[1]

The album has been well received by critics, with Pitchfork calling it “a terrific accomplishment”.[2] The album has won Mew several prizes in Denmark, including four Danish Music Awards.} It also features at the top of Danish music magazine Gaffa’s list of best albums of 2005.

The working title for the album was “Saviours of Jazz Ballet”, but even before they thought about calling it “Circuitry of the Wolf”.

Despite not having been released as a single, the track “The Zookeeper’s Boy” gained massive popularity with the biggest radio station in Denmark, P3, playing the track intensively. This made it the “Hit of the Year” in various polls, and when Gaffa, the biggest Danish music magazine, made a poll, it took first place, with the actual single “Special” coming in second. It was later released as a single due to popular demand.

The album’s cover has earned it the dubious honor of being the second album named in Pitchfork Media’s “Your Cover’s Blown,” a column devoted to poor album art.[3] And also in Pitchfork Media’s “Top 25 Worst Album Covers of 2006”.[4]