As we know, Mew have had a few duets in the past – with Becky Jarrett on Symmetry, Stina Nordenstam on Her Voice Is Beyond Her Years and (Dinosaur Jr’s) J Mascis on Why Are You Looking Grave and An Envoy to the Open Fields. The upcoming album will have a duet with a relatively unknown 88-year-old avant-garde Danish singer Mari Helgerlikova on Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy. The track also includes a children’s choir singing the chorus, something Mew did with White Lips Kissed four years ago. That is going to be an interesting combination. Apparently Helgerlikova’s voice can also be heard on the upcoming b-side Swimmer’s Chant (previously titled The Chant And Swimmer).
“I’m working with a young group from Denmark called Mew, that’s an ongoing thing and it’s been really enjoyable. Working title of the song is “The Chant And Swimmer” and it’s a beautiful piece. But it’s not only that, we’ve been experimenting a lot on different things“, she told to Hidden Sounds’ interviewer in November 2006 when the Danes had just started writing new material.
It is also mentioned in a recent article that the 23-word album title comes from the lyrics of the song Hawaii Dream. The album includes tracks called Hawaii and A Dream, so – at this point – we do not know what they really mean by this. Read the interesting article where Mew also talk about the album title and the cover art that has raised eyebrows everywhere. Jonas Bjerre reveals that the album title may sound pretty bleak. “It comes from having watched a lot of TV when I was a kid. I feel like I’ve been told so many stories in my life I don’t need to hear anymore, and so I’ve kind of given up on being impressed by stories. But the cover art is really happy and colourful and it shows the positive side – which is to go out, become part of the world and make your own stories“, he adds.
PS: If you are using Spotify, the radio version of Introducing Palace Players (3:30) has just been added.
88-year old singer? One can only imagine.
This only increases my desire for this album. Like every other post on this site. KKEEP IT Up.
What a span, from 13(?) year old Jarret to Helgerlikova. I am fascinated by what Jonas says concerning the title, its a very wise observation.
According to various sources, the album contains tracks that are called ‘Hawaii Dream’ AND ‘Hawaii’ (no ‘A Dream’ at all). First one being the dream version of the actual song. Cannot confirm this yet.