Of Monsters and Men is an amiable group of day dreamers who craft folkie pop songs. The normally mild-mannered six pack transformed into total rock stars after stomping out their competition during Músiktilraunir, a yearly battle of the bands in their native Iceland.
Their rapid rise transpired in just one year. Nanna, who began as the acoustic act Songbird, recruited extra hands to bolster her sound for a solo show. She liked how her vocals commingled with Raggi’s, so they started writing songs together and in 2010 morphed into Of Monsters and Men. As victors of 2010’s Músiktilraunir, the new group earned a slot on the influential Iceland Airwaves festival later that year, followed by Seattle’s radio station KEXP posting “Little Talks” from a Living Room Session filmed there, setting the telltale ripple effect in motion.
By the summer of 2011 “Little Talks” hit No. 1 in the band’s native country, and “people around the world seemed to be listening to us,” marvels Raggi. The band was asked to perform again at Iceland Airwaves 2011, where KEXP then anointed the group as “easily the most buzzed about band.” Though their reach is growing broader, the group’s appeal has remained distinct: Their music is as fantastical as it is pretty.
In September 2011, Of Monsters and Men threw a party to celebrate their full-length debut, My Head Is an Animal. (The album, which was released in Iceland and hit No 1 there soon after and has since taken the world by storm) has its UK release date set for 27th August 2012.
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