♬ Of Monsters and Men
For the past few months, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen about Iceland’s Of Monsters and Men. I was first introduced to their sweet blend of orchestral pop & traditional European pub sing-alongs late last year when influential DJ Kevin Cole of Seattle’s KEXP 90.3FM returned from the Iceland Airwaves music festival with a video that their crew had shot of the band performing their song “Little Talks” in their apartment. Their performance was honest, effortless and innocent-almost childlike-I fell in love with their sound instantly.
One month later, OM&M won the Músíktilraunir Prize, Iceland’s most prestigious music award and their music started seeing heavy rotation on more progressive US radio stations, notably Radio 104.5FM in Philly. Their fan-base started to expand online and pretty soon the buzz caught the attention of several record labels, resulting in the band signing with Universal for distribution rights pretty much everywhere this side of Iceland.
So, here they come…
The debut LP is My Head Is An Animal. It’s been available in parts of Europe since last summer and it’s going to drop in the US on Tuesday. NPR has a jump on the release and will be streaming the entire album on First Listen for the next week or so. My guess is you’ll fall for this band at about the one-minute mark of the first track, “Dirty Paws”.
OM&M landed in the US a couple of weeks ago to perform at SXSW & will be touring throughout the Spring around the US. Pretty much the entire tour is already sold out. I was lucky enough to get invited to a short live set from the band in Seattle earlier this week and I can tell you without a doubt, these guys are the real thing. They’re traveling as a seven-piece, with the addition of a single trumpet player onstage, and they’re even more charming live. Any chance you get to see them this Summer, do it. They’re going to be the sweethearts of the outdoor festival circuit and to see them live in front of one of those festival crowds in the sun is going to be an experience that you won’t soon forget.
Trust me… go get it. Listen. Repeat. Nuffsaid? Or, “don’t listen to a word I say…HEY!”
The sound may not be trailblazing or entirely unique in today’s musical landscape, but their sense of melody, lyrical imagery, and the fact that every song on the album has the potential to be an ear worm makes this essential listening.
there is far more to it this than positive lyrics and sing-along choruses. the musical chemistry within the band finds its way into the recording. the harmonies are extraordinary.
wonderful lyrical imagery
One of the best debuts in quite some time. Reminds me of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ debut and far more positive and upbeat than Mumford and Sons’ “Sigh No More.”