New video: Mew - Beach

Mew's official music video for the track 'Beach', off their 2009 album 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, is finally out!

mp3: Mew - Beach(alternate download link)



The members of Danish dream pop / alternative rock band Mew first met each other in the early nineties, when the four founding members worked together on a 7th grade art project. Their project consisted of an art film combining self-composed music with self-recorded video, and was a strong hint of what to come - lead singer Jonas Bjerre still loves to combine video and music in interesting and artistic ways, something Mew fans all over the world know to appreciate.

In all their live shows, bizarre and fascinating backdrop videos always run behind the band for the entirety of the show. These are actually all made by Bjerre personally, who in the meantime between directing his 7th grade art video and breaking through internationally with Mew in 2003 actually for a period also worked professionally with post-production and special effects. For an example of Bjerre's work, check out the absolutely stunning backdrop video for 'Comforting Sounds' (if you're impatient, 4:20 is when the magic begins).

Although Bjerre doesn't produce the official music videos for the band himself, the world is always in for a treat when a new Mew music video is released nonetheless. Due to the band's love for interesting and experimental imagery, they always work with really interesting young up-and-coming directors. 'Beach' was directed by 29 year old Danish director Lasse Martinussen, who also did their last video (Repeaterbeater), and it's truly bizarre and unique - in that special Mew way.

While Beach arguably is the most straigthforward, sweet and bright song on the album, almost naive-sounding compared to other tracks such as the dark New Terrain or the complex and labyrinthian Introducing Palace Players (my absolute favorite track of 2009!), the video is far from naive and sweet. The cheerful song, compared with dark, perplexing and unnerving images, makes for a fantastic music video that makes me once again reconfirm my deep love for these Danish pop geniuses. Enjoy!