Múm

Iceland experimental pop outfit Múm came together in 1997 when Gunnar Örn Tynes, Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason, and the classically trained Valtýsdóttir twins Gyða and Kristín Anna first joined forces while contributing to a children’s theater production. Hearing Aphex Twin prompted Smárason to abandon the guitar-centric approach of his earlier groups, a shift his three colleagues readily embraced. After issuing several singles and remixes, the quartet delivered its debut album Yesterday Was Dramatic -- Today Is OK in 2000 via TMT/Thule domestically and Tugboat in the United Kingdom; at the time all four members were still teenagers, and the record drew praise for its inventive blend of conventional instruments and everyday sonic objects. In 2001 Morr Music issued Please Smile My Noise Bleed, a collection of reworkings by artists including isan and Arovane. The following year Fat Cat released the band’s second studio album, Finally We Are No One. Gyða departed to pursue academic interests before Summer Make Good appeared in spring 2004; Múm closed out that year with the Dusk Log EP. Extensive touring occupied the next two seasons. During 2005 the group partnered with the National Dutch Chamber Orchestra for a Holland Festival commission in Amsterdam that drew inspiration from composer Iannis Xenakis. The ensemble returned to recording in 2006, issuing the previously unreleased 2002 BBC session The Peel Session as a live album. By the time Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy surfaced in 2007, only founding members Tynes and Smárason remained; they augmented the lineup with guitarist/vocalist/violinist Ólöf Arnalds, trumpeter/keyboardist Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson, vocalist/cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir, percussionist Samuli Kosminen, and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Mr. Silla. The resulting fifth album, Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know, was tracked across Finland, Estonia, and Iceland and appeared in 2009. Four years passed before another studio set materialized, though a holiday EP titled Gleðileg Jól surfaced in 2011 and the early-material compilation Early Birds followed in 2012. Early in 2013 the surprise single “Whistle,” featuring Kylie Minogue, surfaced; that September Múm issued its sixth album Smilewound, which included the Minogue collaboration and marked Gyða Valtýsdóttir’s return after a decade away.