Kind of a pretty monster...

Of Monsters and Men is an indie folk/indie pop band from Garðabær, Iceland and at the same time the  winner of 2010 Músíktilraunir -an annual battle of the bands of Iceland.

The group members are:  singer/guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, singer/guitarist Ragnar Þórhallsson, guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, piano/accordion player- Árni Guðjónsson, and bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson.

They were also invited to perform at the 2010 Iceland Airwaves festival, and it is where the Seattle based radio station KEXP recorded them performing Little Talks from a Living Room Session.

They sound really amazing; as there is something raw and a bit rough about them...covering the timid maybe?.., but this is perhaps due to the original circumstances of the plain title living room in which the young band was processing slowly their accelerating success. Give them a year and listen to Little talks again...

So there it is still bursting with vivid energy, brilliance and with more self confidence. A strange incorporation of what goes around... comes around - when you put the beauty in, you feel alike- and we can hear it right in this very case.

The buzz around the band had positive outcome and they signed with Record Records in February 2011 for the release of their debut album in Iceland. Their debut album My Head is an Animal was released in Iceland in September 2011 and shortly after topped the charts. Lifted with the success back home in Iceland, and growing popularity in the States, the band was signed to Universal for a worldwide release of their debut album. The band released its Into the Woods EP on December the 20th; 2011, and then My Head is an Animal in the United States on April the 3th, 2012.

I can give you one more date to this dry fact section - 02.05.2012. This is a day when I was buying my copy of their debut album, it is still fresh in my head but it has already permanent place there. It is impressive package of exotic warmth  and even some catchy pop/folk songs. But what spice things up even more for me personally, is that I trace an incredible amount of joy coming from the fact: a group of people playing music together.

So.. I encourage you to be affected as I am...


More about  Of Monsters and Men :

Their website: ofmonstersandmen.is
MySpace: myspace.com/ofmonstersandmenmusic