Mew – “85 Videos” (Singles Going Steady)

Chris Ingalls: Denmark’s Mew are a band that’s known to fuse their indie pop music with a slight accent of prog, this fits the bill nicely. From the soaring choruses and sophisticated musical arrangements to the nagging earworm catchiness, it’s as if Muse or Coldplay made an album after spending the weekend listening to Genesis’ Duke. Which, to me, is not a bad thing. [7/10]

Andrew Paschal: A glossy mainline of synthpop from the Danish prog rockers, the pleasures of “85 Videos” are immediate. Jonas Bjerre’s vocals sound velvety and even indulgent among “the drifting lights” of their ’80s throwback production, like a lost Tears For Fears cut. The track perhaps lacks some staying power, as it drifts dangerously close to a generic genre exercise. Even so, the cloudy neon of “85 Videos” is also difficult to resist entirely. [7/10]

Paul Carr: Danish indie heroes Mew return with a more toned down, poppier sound that sees them quell the fiery approach of previous albums. It is an elegant, dreamy song that stretches at the seams of their sound taking them in a more new wave direction. It has a hallucinatory feel that takes time to sink in, but once it does the chorus is inescapable. [7/10]

Adriane Pontecorvo: The electronics sound sharp, but there’s not a lot of edge to “85 Videos”. Everything is just a little too clean, and the track hearkens back too much to cheesy ’80s power pop. The shifts in time signatures intrigue, as do the faint guitar lines that hang in the background. “85 Videos” isn’t unsalvageable, but it needs a rethink and a new sense of balance, one that lets in a little more grit. [4/10]

Mike Schiller: Here we have some synth-heavy alt-rock styling, complete with a kaleidoscopic light show. It has a good sound — it has the vague scent of a more thoughtful, less charismatic George Michael song — but it never builds to the climax it seems to be working toward. Close, but not quite. [5/10]

SCORE: 6.00