As I said in my writeup of “Satellites” — the first single off Mew’s upcoming +/- — Mew’s last album, No More Stories…, was my favorite of 2009. At that point I hadn’t heard +/-, but I have now, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a worthy followup. I’m gonna try to write about it next month, closer to its release, but FWIW, in brief: The whole thing is truly excellent, but the second half in particular is just about flawless. The just-released “Water Slides” falls into that second half, and it’s a beautiful example of the album’s meticulous construction; every tiny sound on this thing is carefully considered, and all those tiny sounds are slowly layered to build something monumental. Listen.

(Via Pitchfork)

+/- is out 4/27 via Play It Again Sam.