Support Us for Only $1.00 a Month to Access the Long Out of Print Issue from 2005
May 25, 2020By Mark Redfern
We’ve been uploading the long out of print and sold out Issue 8 to our Patreon page, one article at a time. The 2005 issue features Bright Eyes on the cover and so far we have uploaded interviews from it with Tegan and Sara, Mew, Muse, Doves, My Morning Jacket, The Walkmen, Metric, Rilo Kiley, Low, The Decemberists, Devendra Banhart, and more. More
“In my country it is unthinkable to not be able to afford to get the treatment you need, no matter the contents of your wallet.”
Apr 24, 2020By Mark Redfern
We are checking in with musicians during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic to see how they are dealing with everything. What has their home quarantine experience been like so far and how is the crisis impacting both their career and art? Here we check in with Jonas Bjerre of Denmark’s Mew. More
Issue 66 Features Musicians and Actors on Their All-Time Favorite Albums, including Tegan and Sara, Wilco, Weyes Blood, Sigur Rós, Fred Armisen, Topher Grace, Jay Baruchel, Low, and more
Sep 27, 2019By Mark Redfern
Under the Radar is excited to announce the My Favorite Album Issue, our new print issue in which we speak to musicians and actors about their all-time favorite album. The issue features Angel Olsen and Sleater-Kinney on the two covers and is available to buy directly from us here, as well as being distributed in stores nationwide (on newsstands, in such stores as Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, and elsewhere). More
Issue 65 is Out Now and Also Includes Interviews with Sharon Van Etten, Deerhunter, Foals, and Kurt Vile; Plus a Tribute to Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit, and Much More
Mar 01, 2019By Mark Redfern
Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our new print issue, Issue 65, which is out now nationwide (on newsstands, in such stores as Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, and elsewhere) and available to buy directly from us here. The issue features Mitski on the front cover and boygenius (Julien Baker + Phoebe Bridgers + Lucy Dacus) on the back cover. More
This weekend we’ll be making our way to Latvia for Positivus, a festival (in a forest no less) that features Under the Radar mainstays like Austra, Mew, and alt-j in addition to a whole host of Baltic talent.
There's no other band quite like Danish trio Mew. They have a unique sound (a mix of art rock, dream pop, and prog rock, led by singer Jonas Bjerre's unmistakable high-pitched voice) and a visual aesthetic all their own. More
Plus Thurston Moore, BNQT, Sylvan Esso, Little Cub, and Juliana Hatfield
Apr 28, 2017By Christopher Roberts
Here we highlight nine albums due out today that we feel are most worth hearing. We have also included Amazon links for each album. If you click through those links and buy the album (or anything else on Amazon once you've clicked through) then Amazon rewards us with a sales percentage. More
Issue 60 Also Includes Interviews with alt-J, Grandaddy, Jarvis Cocker, Mount Eerie, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Perfume Genius, Slowdive, Little Dragon, London Grammar, Mew, Real Estate, Goldfrapp, The New Pornographers and Much More
Apr 07, 2017By Christopher Roberts
Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our Spring 2017 Issue, which is out now digitally via Under the Radar's app and the magazine app Readly. The print version is about to ship out to subscribers and stores and will be on all newsstands soon (as well as available soon digitally via the magazine apps Zinio and Readly). More
Danish trio Mew are releasing a new album, Visuals, on April 28 via Play It Again Sam. Previously the band shared the album's closing track, "Carry Me to Safety." Now the band have shared another song from the album, "85 Videos," via a music video that matches the album artwork and the visual that accompanied "Carry Me to Safety." More
Danish trio Mew, longtime Under the Radar favorites, have announced a new album, Visuals, and shared its first single, the album's closing track, "Carry Me to Safety." Visuals is due out April 28 via Play It Again Sam. The band has also announced some European tour dates. More
Bid on Protest Signs from our Protest Issue – Amanda Palmer, Best Coast, Thurston Moore, Sharon Jones, and More Help Us Donate to the American Cancer Society
Special Issue Takes On Sexism and Feminism in the Music Industry, Tackles the Election, and Features Amanda Palmer on the Cover
Sep 09, 2016By Christopher Roberts
Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our 2016 Protest Issue (out September, October, and into November), which is out now both digitally and on newsstands. We've done a Protest Issue every U.S. Presidential election year since 2004 and as before this issue features articles examining the intersection of music and politics and photo shoots with musicians holding protest signs of their own making. Then in mid-October we will be launching our charity Protest Auction, in which we auction off all the protest signs in the issue, with all profits going to the American Cancer Society. More
Mew's "My Complications" has gotten the remix treatment, thanks to DNKL. The original version of song is found on the band's latest album, + -, released earlier this year. The remix stripes out most of the guitars and drums for a more chilled out version of the song. Check it out below. More
After a lengthy absence from recording, Copenhagen's Mew returned this year with their sixth studio LP, +-. Today, we're premiering the otherworldly, visually inventive video for album cut "Making Friends." More
+- Out Now via [PIAS] America, U.S. Tour Starts This Week
Sep 16, 2015By Christopher Roberts
Mew's new U.S. tour starts this week. In honor of that they've shared a new remix of "Witness" by Olugbenga Adelekan, the bassist for Metronomy. He adds a lot more meat and heft to the song and you can check out his remix below, followed by the band's tour dates. The song is taken from the band's latest album, + -, released earlier this year. More
Back in June Mewalready shared an ambitious video for "The Night Believer." It was an inventive undertaking that featured 1,000 of their fans (from 65 countries) singing along to the song seamlessly edited into clips with the band. More
Mew's last video, for "The Night Believer," was quite an ambitious and inventive undertaking as it featured 1,000 of their fans (from 65 countries) singing along to the song seamlessly edited into clips with the band. More
Founding Member M.I.A. From Recent Shows, Band Issues Statement
Jul 01, 2015By Christopher Roberts
Mew guitarist Bo Madsen has left the band. The Danish band has posted a statement on their website announcing his departure, although there's enough ambiguity in it that fans might hope it's a temporary measure, as it says that Mew and Madsen "have decided to part ways for the time being." More
Mew seem to have quite a devoted fanbase (for good reason, they are a great band) and in the Danish group's inventive new video they have involved exactly 1,000 of their fans (from 65 countries). More
The Danish band Mew kept a diary of their SXSW 2015 experience. Mew is frontman Jonas Bjerre, bassist Johan Wohlert, guitarist Bo Madsen, and drummer Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen. The band's new album, +-, is out April 27 via [PIAS] America.More
Plus Shots of East India Youth, Jacco Gardner, SOAK, Matthew E. White, and Pompeii
Mar 29, 2015By Christopher Roberts
Under the Radar's own Wendy Lynch Redfern and Laura Studarus were down in Austin for SXSW last week. Here's a selection of their live photos from the Under the Radar Daytime event at The Flamingo Cantina on Thursday, March 19, 2015. More
+- Out April 28 via [PIAS] America - Playing Under the Radar's SXSW Day Party This Thursday
Mar 18, 2015By Johan Wohlert
For What I'm Watching an artist will simply tell us about a TV show they have been watching or a movie they recently saw. For this installment Johan Wohlert of the Danish band Mew writes about a British TV show he's been into. Mew's new album, +-, is due out April 28 via [PIAS] America.More
Under the Radar’s SXSW Day Party is Thurs, March 18
Mar 13, 2015By Laura Studarus
Next week, Under the Radar is hosting two SXSW parties. In honor of the occasion, Mew, who will be playing our day party, handcrafted us a mixtape. More
Thursday Day Party and Saturday Official Nighttime Showcase; Lineups Also Include East India Youth, Matthew E. White, Boxed In, Jacco Gardner, and Others
Currently hard at work on their next full-length album, Danish trio Mew have shared a brand new track from their sessions called "Making Friends." More
While there’s no word yet on an official album (although on the band’s Facebook they promised that they have something up their sleeve, “growing bigger and faster and too big to handle.”), today Mew gave us a first taste of what’s to come. More
Sometimes you can’t do it without a little help from your friends. Just ask film maker Rune Schjøt, whose new film Skyskraber comes with a soundtrack via Mew frontman, Jonas Bjerre. More
Mew's creepy new music video for "Beach" cements the fact that the Danish trio make the best music videos in indie rockdom.For evidence of Jonas Bjerre's former job as a film animator and special effects artist, check out the very professional clips for "Repeaterbeater" and "Introducing Palace Players.""Beach" starts with some Children of the Corn-esque kids chanting in a born with a storm brewing outside. We have the video. More
Last night, Coachella released set times for this year's festival (this weekend, April 16th-18th). While we were busy agonizing over the inevitable conflicts (Charlotte Gainsbourg vs. Jónsi? Local Natives vs. Owen Pallet? Sly and Family Stone vs. Phoenix? C'mon!), one thing quickly became clear—Under the Radar favorites Mew (previously announced to play on Saturday) were no longer on the list. Today the band released a statement via their MySpace, confirming that their absence from the schedule was no mere typo. More
Jay-Z, Muse, and Gorillaz to Headline Three-Day Festival
Jan 19, 2010By Mark Redfern
One of North America's most anticipated music festivals, Coachella, has announced its 2010 line-up. The three-day festival, which takes place in the California desert near Palm Springs April 16 - 18, will feature Jay-Z, Muse, and Gorillaz as the headliners. Other highlights include: Public Image Limited, The Specials, Grace Jones, Echo and the Bunnymen, Pavement, Sly and the Family Stone, Devo,LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear, Fever Ray, She & Him, Yeasayer, MGMT, Hot Chip, Dirty Projectors, Mew, Camera Obscura, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, Thom Yorke????,Phoenix, Spoon, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Yo La Tengo, Deerhunter, The Big Pink, Florence and the Machine, Owen Pallett, and Local Natives.
Enact Plan to "Pay it Forward" to Local Bands in Select Cities
Oct 15, 2009By Kyle Lemmon
In November and December, the Danish art rock unit Mew will bring their stadium-ready tunes from the album-of-the-year contender, No More Stories..., to live venues across the U.S. They will also be giving local bands a chance to open for them. More
The Danish trio Mew (who are a five-piece live) took the Troubadour stage for a sold-out show and launched right into "New Terrain," the opening track to the band's lengthily titled new 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. On record the song is awash with backwards vocals and, live, singer Jonas Bjerre seemed to warp his pipes in a similar fashion. Guitarist Bo Madsen started "New Terrain" playing bongo drums, before switching to the guitar. The song was loud—its bass and drums tickling at the ears and making the $2 earplugs sold at the bar briefly tempting. More
This week the Zune L.A. gallery/performance space is hosting the Mewseum, an exhibition of Mew's music videos, including three filmed for their lengthily titled new 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. The three videos are directed by Martin De Thurah and also displayed are photos from the videos. Mew performed a short set Monday night at Zune L.A. to a grouping of fans and industry folk. Before the Danish trio took the stage, the three No more stories videos were shown. More
A Multimedia Exhibit and a Special Performance Planned for Zune L.A.
Aug 18, 2009By Michele Yamamoto
Danish trio Mew will be presenting for Los Angeles fans the Mewseum at the Zune L.A. Space from August 29th through September 3rd. It will feature a multimedia gallery of Mew's videos and work, as well as a live performance from the band. More
How Many Clown Butterflies Can You Stuff Into One Tour Bus?
Jul 14, 2009By Kyle Lemmon
Last July, the Danish prog-pop trio Mew posted a strange Video Diary clip, entitled 'Recording in Brooklyn.' Like many of the clips on the band's website, the video pairs band-shot footage with news reel-like audio. In this specific entry a voice discusses the The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which went online last September. Talk of the ominous LHC, string theory and bending temporal space and time is just the type of stuff Mew's music evokes, and the comparison seems all the more appropriate after listening to their new time-warping LP several times over. More
A Tour with NIN Followed by Album Release--Just Enough Time to Say the Title
May 15, 2009By Michele Yamamoto
Come summer, Danish post-rock band Mew will be releasing its lengthily titled new album—which is the third one to be released in America and which was recorded last summer in Brooklyn, NY—on August 25th. More
“In my country it is unthinkable to not be able to afford to get the treatment you need, no matter the contents of your wallet.”
Apr 24, 2020By Mark Redfern
We are checking in with musicians during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic to see how they are dealing with everything. What has their home quarantine experience been like so far and how is the crisis impacting both their career and art? Here we check in with Jonas Bjerre of Denmark’s Mew. More
Jonas Bjerre on #MeToo, Social Media, The Dark Crystal, Climate Change, and Childhood Birthday Parties and Vacations
Mar 20, 2019By Mark Redfern
For Under the Radar's 16th Annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to the last year, plus some fun personal questions. We asked them about their favorite albums of the year and their thoughts on various notable 2018 news stories involving either the music industry or world events, as well as some quirkier personal questions. More
A Conversation with Billy Bragg, Deerhoof's Greg Saunier, Kristin Kontrol, Mew's Jonas Bjerre, Moby, Thurston Moore, Okkervil River's Will Sheff, Amanda Palmer, Henry Rollins, Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg, Superchunk's Laura Ballance, and Andrew W.K
Nov 03, 2016By Matt Fink
On July 11, 2016, Democratic nominee for president Bernie Sanders officially endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, thereby ending one of the unlikeliest campaigns in American political history. It had been a remarkable run for the 74-year-old Vermont senator, going from barely registering in national polls to running neck and neck with Clinton throughout much of the primary. And, if public statements and Twitter endorsements are to be believed, the world of indie rock stood almost unanimously in their support for him. Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio, Grizzly Bear-all performed for Sanders at his rallies. Killer Mike of Run the Jewels filmed interviews with Sanders to help spread his message. More
Jonas Bjerre on 2015's Best Albums, Music Streaming, the Election, the Paris Terror Attacks, Star Wars, and Childhood Memories
Feb 15, 2016By Mark Redfern
For Under the Radar's 13th annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to 2015. We asked them about their favorite albums of the year and their thoughts on various notable 2015 news stories involving either the music industry or world events, as well as some quirkier personal questions. Here are some answers from Jonas Bjerre of Mew. Mew's latest album, +-, was released in 2015 via [PIAS]. A shorter version of this interview ran in the Best of 2015 print issue, which is still on newsstands now.
"We get really caught up in the details. It's kind of a sickness," laughs Mew frontman Jonas Bjerre when the protracted break between 2009's No More Stories... and their new album +-is broached. "I mean, we were doing other things, like touring," he says, sounding a tad defensive. More
On Mew’s new album +-, there’s a song called “Witness,” where a low-voiced singer rasps his way through the band’s signature layers of guitars and pounding percussion. Frontman Jonas Bjerre, who typically delivers his enigmatic lyrics in falsetto, assures that yes — that’s him on the track. More
Musician Moms and Dads on the Challenges of Raising Children on the Road
Mar 22, 2010By Frank Valish
Whatever the perception, as any parent will tell you, raising children is hard work, and for a working musician, balancing writing, recording, and touring with being a full-time mom or dad can be extra tricky. More
On August 25th, Danish band Mew will release perhaps the most ambitious (and ambitiously-titled) album in the group's decade plus history. 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 marks a sonic left turn from the more aggressive guitar-based textures of the band's last album, 2005's And the Glass Handed Kites. Mew's Jonas Bjerre talked to Under the Radar about the band's new album, continuing without bassist Johan Wohlert, and being invited to support Nine Inch Nails on that band's final U.S. tour. More
Danish trio Mew are hipsters outside the cool scene; prog-rockers more interested in creating epic, dreamy pop than singing about ancient monuments More
You expect Mew to play the angles, every single one of them. Fortunately none of them are ever obtuse. More
SXSW 2015 Thursday - Under the Radar Party - of Montreal, Mew, East India Youth, SOAK, and More
Mar 30, 2015By Mark Redfern
"We played a show at 7'oclock this morning, which is entirely too early to be playing a rock 'n' roll concert," said Matthew E. White. The Richmond, VA-based singer/songwriter/guitarist was up on stage at the Flamingo Cantina, for a second-on-the-bill 12:45 PM set at Under the Radar's SXSW day party. More
Off Festival 2010 Day Two Recap - Mew, Radio Dept., and others
The quote of the evening goes to the girl next to me—who just before Mew took the stage emphatically announced "Mew aren't Danish! They're from Denmark!" Errr...pardon? Audience confusion aside, the three Danes men from Denmark known as Mew (along with two touring members on bass and keyboard) put on one heck of a show-even after a delayed entrance post curtain-rise caused the (much saner) girl next to me to mutter, "Concerts—you're doing it wrong!" More
No More Stories Are Told Today I’m Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories the World Is Grey…
Don't let the cumbersome album title or the pictographic clown-butterfly intermezzos fool you. Danish trio Mew is surely grandiose, but still a few concept albums shy of bat-shit crazy. In fact, No More Stories is fairly tame in comparison to 2005's labyrinthine and gloomy song suite, And the Glass Handed Kites. Where Kites stockpiled instrumentation, No More Stories cuts the fat and makes do with the group's new orientation (bassist Johan Wohlert left the band to concentrate on fatherhood). More
The Danish trio Mew (who are a five-piece live) took the Troubadour stage for a sold-out show and launched right into "New Terrain," the opening track to the band's lengthily titled new 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. On record the song is awash with backwards vocals and, live, singer Jonas Bjerre seemed to warp his pipes in a similar fashion. Guitarist Bo Madsen started "New Terrain" playing bongo drums, before switching to the guitar. The song was loud—its bass and drums tickling at the ears and making the $2 earplugs sold at the bar briefly tempting. More
Mew at the Mewseum at the Zune L.A. Space, Los Angeles, CA
This week the Zune L.A. gallery/performance space is hosting the Mewseum, an exhibition of Mew's music videos, including three filmed for their lengthily titled new 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. The three videos are directed by Martin De Thurah and also displayed are photos from the videos. Mew performed a short set Monday night at Zune L.A. to a grouping of fans and industry folk. Before the Danish trio took the stage, the three No more stories videos were shown. More