mewithoutYou - "Every Thought a Thought of You" (2009)

mewithoutYou have always been a pretty polarizing band. From first the first listen of their 2002 debut [A-->B] Life, it’s clear that they march to a slightly different drummer. The most distinctive thing about mewithoutYou early on was front man Aaron Weiss’ vocal approach of half speaking/half yelling his lyrics. Imagine intense spoken word poetry set to heavy guitars. The band progressed this sound on their sophomore effort Catch for Us the Foxes, becoming a little more accessible with the addition of memorable melodies here and there. Even so, mewithoutYou were still in a league of their own. No band was or is currently doing anything like that. Their 2006 record Brother, Sister was more along the lines of Foxes, but furthered their experimentation with the addition of a few instruments. Weiss even saw fit to actually sing on a few tracks and it wasn’t half bad. It furthered solidified them as one of the most original bands in the scene. Many were anticipating the release of mewithoutYou’s fourth full length, wondering whether it would be a maturation of the sound they had come to love or if it would be a reinvention of sorts. The band fueled more speculation by choosing to work with producer Dan Smith, best known for his work with neo-folk favorites Danielson and Sufjan Stevens. The result is the verbosely titled It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright. The title as well as many lyrical themes come from the teachings of former Philadelphia based Sufi mystic Bawa Muhaiyaddeen which is interesting considering the fact that mewithoutYou had always embraced heavily Christian themes on their previous records. Lyrically, the record is still quite spiritual and has Christian themes throughout, however it seems much more vaguely defined and more about love and God’s creation in general instead of Christianity per se. Musically, mewithoutYou step out on many limbs to which they have previously not ventured. Gone is the notion of two guitars, bass and drums making up an entire song and instead the band has expanded their sound with all sorts of horns as well as wind and stringed instruments. This record is without a doubt a total departure from the mewithoutYou of the past. Weiss’ signature vocal style is all but gone and replaced with a more timid singing style, save for “Bullet To Binary (Pt. Two)” which is a lyrical call back to “Bullet To Binary” from [A-->B] Life. Personally this record has been difficult for me to get into. I have always been a fan of bands reinventing themselves and not making the same record twice, but I feel like mewithoutYou took the concept a little far with It’s All Crazy!.... The album is still quite good but it lacks the originality of their previous efforts in that it sounds like what a lot of indie bands are doing these days as opposed to the fresh sound that mewithoutYou had created all on their own. That being said, the record is not without bright spots. Today’s song is the lead off track and is less of a departure than some, except maybe for the keyboards. Weiss even rattles off some Arabic as he did on a few tracks from Brother, Sister. mewithoutYou are still a great band, but I just think this record will be one that will divide some long time fans.


mewithoutYou - "Every Thought a Thought of You"