Of Monsters And Men

Emerging from Iceland, rock outfit Of Monsters and Men captured worldwide notice in the early 2010s through an energetic strain of chamber pop that recalled the work of Arcade Fire and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes. Their breakthrough single "Little Talks" ascended to the summit of charts across multiple continents, while the debut full-length My Head Is an Animal achieved multi-platinum status. The band's more reflective follow-up, Beneath the Skin, surfaced in 2015 and delivered the moderate success "Crystals" on its way to a number-three peak on the U.S. charts. After a lengthy recording hiatus, the group resurfaced in 2019 with the revitalized, synth-driven Fever Dream, followed three years later by the EP and documentary TÍU.

The collective first assembled in 2009, its original roster featuring singer/guitarists Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Þórhallsson, guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, keyboardist Árni Guðjónsson, bass player Kristján Páll Kristjánsson, and drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson. Momentum built rapidly when the ensemble claimed victory in Iceland's national Battle of the Bands contest, Musiktilraunir, only a year after forming. By 2011 Rolling Stone magazine had already labeled them "the new Arcade Fire." Record Records issued the debut album My Head Is an Animal domestically that fall; its buoyant lead track "Little Talks" soon achieved global traction, prompting a deal with Universal Music Group. An EP called Into the Woods appeared shortly afterward, and a revised international edition of the debut arrived in 2012.

That record became a worldwide commercial force, reaching high positions throughout Western Europe and Australasia while landing at number six on the Billboard 200. Extensive touring and headline slots at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Boston Calling, and Glastonbury ensued, along with network-television spots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon just one month after release and The Graham Norton Show later the same year. Around this period Guðjónsson exited the lineup, yet the remaining quintet secured a coveted Saturday Night Live appearance in spring 2013. Their composition "Silhouettes" was featured on the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and work commenced on the second album. Co-produced by Rich Costey (Interpol, Muse, Kimbra) and tracked between Iceland and Los Angeles across 2014 and early 2015, Beneath the Skin arrived that June and entered the Billboard charts at number three. Promotion of the project continued well into 2016, after which the musicians returned to the studio in 2017 to begin their third effort.

Of Monsters and Men reemerged in 2019 via the expansive rocker "Alligator," drawn from the July release Fever Dream. Again working with producer Rich Costey (Muse, Sigur Rós), the album embraced synthesizers and pop flourishes that signaled a clear shift from the group's earlier folk-rooted aesthetic. The standalone track "Destroyer" followed in 2021, and early 2022 brought the single "This Happiness" ahead of the summer arrival of the EP TÍU (meaning "Ten" in Icelandic).