And the Glass Handed Kites is the fourth studio album by Danishalternative rock band Mew. It was released on 19 September 2005, and in the United States on 25 July 2006.[6]
And the Glass Handed Kites was composed as a single continuous suite. Critics have likened the album to one long song due to the tracks' unnoticed transitions.
The Japanese bonus track, "Shiroi Kuchibiruno Izanai" is an alternate version of "White Lips Kissed" with the lyrics and title translated into Japanese.
Critical reception
And the Glass Handed Kites has been well received by critics. James Christopher Monger of AllMusic gave the album a positive review, writing "Fans of OK Computer-era Radiohead, My Bloody Valentine, and Disintegration-era Cure will find And the Glass Handed Kites one of the most breathtaking things to come along since the dawn of the dream pop/post-punk genres themselves."[1]
Pitchfork reviewer Nitsuh Abebe praised the album's epic feel and called the album "a terrific accomplishment". The same website also criticized the album cover, naming it one of the worst album covers of 2006.[8]
In a more mixed review, Conrad Amenta of Cokemachineglow.com wrote "The real shame is that on this album... the songs become secondary to the gesture. They are denied a sense of finality or, in And the Glass Handed Kite's case, are sometimes deprived of an ending altogether." Amenta concluded: "The band does have the musical ability, their songs are reasonably well constructed, and the melodies are there. It’s only the ridiculous costume of importance they wear so self-consciously that’ll keep them from ever joining the party."[9]
Gaffa named And the Glass Handed Kites the best Danish album of 2005.[10]
Commercial performance
And the Glass Handed Kites peaked at number 2 on Denmark's Tracklisten. Four singles were released for the album: "Apocalypso", "Special", "Why Are You Looking Grave?" and "The Zookeeper's Boy". Despite originally not having been released as a single, the track "The Zookeeper's Boy" gained massive popularity with the biggest radio station in Denmark, P3, reaching number 1 on the radio's Tjeklisten charts from 9 October 2005 through 6 November 2005.[11][12] The track was voted "Hit of the Year" by Gaffa readers, with another Mew song ("Special") coming in second.[13] "The Zookeeper's Boy" was later released as a single in 2006.[14]
