Depth of thought and depth of record collection combine to dig up the gem that is intellectual-indie anti-anthem, Ask Me Now, the latest single from talked-up Manchester five-piece, Mewn. Preceding an EP release of the same name on Fri 26 April 2024 on Modern Sky, the band – which has supported the likes of The National and appeared on major festival stages such as Blue Dot – release the slowly unfurling, gently ostentatious, longform single as a statement of genre-blending intent.
Talking up the complex concepts of Black Country New Road and northern soap opera romance of Pulp, spliced with an established admiration of folk/chamber pop, Mewn’s mission to make a high art of melody re-emerges after past, acclaimed independent releases. First appearing with their ethereal Landscapes Unchanged EP in 2021, the discreetly experimental, determinedly song-focused band push their own boundaries on the Ask Me Now EP as part of their persistent, insistent challenge to the boundaries of lyrically-focused, soul-affecting indie music.
Elaborately clocking in at seven minutes in its most uncompromising form, Ask Me Now runs with a baton passed by numerous other wide-thinking guitar music virtuosos, leaving the extended expressions of The Smiths’ Reel Around The Fountain and Television’s masterpiece, Marquee Moon ringing in the ears. Adding to All The Happiness, the EP’s first single released earlier this year, Mewn’s latest offering is amongst, by their own admission, their strongest yet. |
|