YorkeDaddy

I guess it's a tad strange that an album that seriously contends for one of my favorites of all time is getting dropped this high on the list. Once again, however, this list isn't exactly just a list of favorites...it's mostly a list of potentially life-changing albums.

I remember the first time I discovered Mew, and thus, this record that has become one of my all-time favorites. Believe it or not, I have a friend that lived in Denmark until 2007. He moved to the states and I befriended him pretty quickly upon his entrance into my quaint little school. It took him a while to adjust, but eventually I began becoming closer to him, until one day I took a trip to his house. We sat in his room and listened to some of his music collection, which included some respectable yet generic acts such as Nirvana or U2. Sure, they're both excellent artists in their own right, but nothing I'd ever heard before.

"Here, let me pop in a CD by a group from Denmark," he told me. I expected some silly pop singer to spout some Danish lyrics in my face that only my friend would understand and that I would have no appreciation for. Not that I don't have appreciation for artists that sing in different languages, in fact, Sigur Ros is one of my favorites, but I still didn't expect much to come out of his Danish CD collection.

He pulls out a CD case containing one of the most...interesting album covers I've ever seen. The writing is almost incomprehensible. He sets the CD down in his player and sends me on a ride down Mew Lane.

Ever since that moment, Mew has been one of my favorite bands. And here I am, four years later, attempting to write an essay about why this album is one of the most important works in my life.

As I gaze into the utterly bizarre picture that functions as this record's album cover, I try to come up with a few words that best describe this album. The energetic guitar riff of Circuitry of the Wolf pounds through my speakers. Jonas Bjerre's gorgeous voice serenades me through the strangely uplifting yet foreboding Chinaberry Tree. His voice is almost ethereal and archaic through the mind-blowing choruses of The Zookeeper's Boy, which is my favorite chorus in any song I've ever heard in my entire life.

Through all of these images and sounds, the only words I can muster to sum up this album are: simply incredible.

Every single song is a beautiful work of dream pop at the genre's very best. It's impossible for me to listen to this record without just laying back and staring up into the ceiling in wonder. This is the album that introduced me to obscure foreign bands. Not everything has to come from America, Canada, or Britain. In fact, some of the best works can come from unexpected places; looking at you, Iceland and Denmark.