+ −

For other uses, see Plus–minus (disambiguation).

+ − (pronounced "plus minus") is the sixth studio album by Danish alternative rock band Mew. It was released on 21 April 2015. The album was promoted by the singles "Satellites" and "Water Slides". It was Mew's first studio album in five-and-a-half years, following their 2009 record No More Stories....^[1]

+ −
Studio album by Mew
Released	21 April 2015 (2015-04-21)
Recorded	May 2013 – September 2014 Copenhagen, Denmark
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	58:18
Label	Play It Again Sam, Evil Office, A:larm Music, Universal Music, Petroleum Records
Producer	Michael Beinhorn, Mew
Mew chronology
No More Stories... (2009) + − (2015) Visuals (2017)
Singles from + −
"Satellites" Released: 19 January 2015 "Water Slides" Released: 16 March 2015

Bassist Johan Wohlert made his return on this album after being absent from the band's previous album following his departure in 2006.^[2] + − was also the final album to feature guitarist Bo Madsen, who left the band on 1 July 2015, as well as the final album to featured original formation.^[3]

Recording and release

The recording process for + − started in May 2013 in Copenhagen. Mew enlisted the help of American producer Michael Beinhorn, with whom they worked on their fourth studio album, And the Glass Handed Kites (2005).

They also invited guitarist Russell Lissack of the British rock band Bloc Party, whom they first met years earlier during a joint US concert tour. Lissack was featured on the track "My Complications".^[4]

The release date for the album was announced on 19 January 2015 as 27 April 2015, simultaneously releasing "Satellites" as the first single.^[5] The album was issued as a CD, a heavyweight gatefold double 12" vinyl and a limited edition deluxe double CD book,^[6] as well as digitally, with iTunes Store pre-order starting in January.

On 2 February 2015, "The Night Believer" was premiered on Norwegian radio station NRK P3. The song features guest vocals by New Zealand singer-songwriter Kimbra.^[7]

The album's second single "Water Slides" was released on 16 March 2015.^{[8][non-primary source needed]} On 3 April 2015, Mew premiered the song "Witness".^[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100[10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Consequence of Sound	B[12]
DIY	[13]
Drowned in Sound	7/10[14]
Exclaim!	8/10[15]
The Line of Best Fit	7/10[16]
musicOMH	[17]
NME	7/10[18]
Pitchfork	7.2/10[19]
PopMatters	[20]

Upon its release, the album received favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, based on 17 reviews.^[10]

Ian Cohen of Pitchfork commented that "+ − is liable to be one of the more magnificent-sounding rock records you'll hear all year."^[19]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one in Denmark, becoming Mew's second number-one album. In the United Kingdom, + − debuted at number 59 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 1,438 copies. It is the band's highest-charting album since Frengers (2003) charted at number 102.^[21]

Track listing

+ − track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Satellites"	6:09
2.	"Witness"	3:01
3.	"The Night Believer"	4:12
4.	"Making Friends"	4:52
5.	"Clinging to a Bad Dream"	6:43
6.	"My Complications"	6:03
7.	"Water Slides"	5:04
8.	"Interview the Girls"	4:04
9.	"Rows"	10:42
10.	"Cross the River on Your Own"	7:28
Total length:		58:18

All tracks are written by Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, Johan Wohlert, and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen.

Bonus tracks on Japanese release

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Drinking Soda"	5:02
12.	"Western Silver Lion Cub"	4:02

Deluxe CD Edition Exclusive Disc: Live in Copenhagen 2014

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Coffee Break"	4:05
2.	"Satellites"	5:56
3.	"She Spider"	4:46
4.	"Hawaii"	5:35
5.	"My Complications"	5:42
6.	"Silas the Magic Car"	4:03
7.	"Water Slides"	4:45
8.	"Cross the River on Your Own"	7:32
9.	"Special"	3:09
10.	"The Zookeeper's Boy"	5:27
Total length:		51:45

Personnel

Mew

• Jonas Bjerre – vocals, guitars, piano, synthesizers
• Bo Madsen – guitars
• Johan Wohlert – bass, guitars
• Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Kimbra – vocals on track 3, backing vocals on track 7, 8
• Russell Lissack – guitar on track 6
• Sasha Ryabina – backing vocals on track 1, 2, 5, 10
• Nick Watts – keyboards

Technical

• Michael Beinhorn – production
• Rich Costey – mixing
• Christian Alex Petersen – mixing, engineer

Charts

Weekly chart performance for + −

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[22]	1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[23]	9
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[24]	19
UK Albums (OCC)[25]	59
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[26]	2
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[27]	18
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[28]	25
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[29]	8
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[30]	21

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
Denmark[31]	21 April 2015	LP, CD, digital download	Evil Office, A:larm Music, Universal Music
Belgium[32]	24 April 2015		Play It Again Sam
Germany[33][34]
Netherlands[35]
Norway[36]	27 April 2015		Petroleum Records
Poland[37]			Play It Again Sam
United Kingdom[38]
United States[7]	28 April 2015