News

Of Monsters and Men discuss their “polar opposite” second album

“It’s definitely a more personal album,” says the band’s Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir.

14th April 2015

In September 2011 Of Monsters and Men released their debut album ‘My Head Is An Animal’ in Iceland. It went straight in at Number One, setting the pace for the next eighteen months. By the time the band returned from touring the world in August 2013, playing an open-air concert to underline their triumphs, their debut had sold in excess of two million copies worldwide.

“After that we decided to lay low and get back to reality,” says frontwoman Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, speaking from her home in Iceland. Relaxing before the release of ‘Beneath The Skin’ whisks her and the rest of the band away once more. “It’s been a while since we finished the record so it’s lying there, waiting for people to hear it. It’s a weird feeling but I’m very excited to show people what we’ve been working on. There will be no secrets anymore,” she says with a laugh.

Teasing the release with ‘Crystals’, the opening track of the album, Of Monsters and Men are easing you in slowly. “It’s a good bridge between this album and our last,” starts Nanna. “It’ll make sense to anyone who has heard ‘My Head Is An Animal’ but there’s something at the end that people haven’t heard yet.”

The album itself, written mostly at home, is, “A little different,” but that’s unsurprising considering how far the band have travelled. “The whole process of making this album was completely different to the other one,” Nanna admits. “You can definitely hear that it’s still us but a few years have passed and there’s been a lot of maturing. It was a very natural thing for us and you can feel that.”

Creating ‘Beneath The Skin’ wasn’t as free flowing as their creativity though. Entering their rehearsal space in February of last year the band started working on their ideas. “The writing went well and we were having luck with that,” recalls Nanna. “But then our rehearsal space flooded with all our equipment in. We did have some moments where we questioned ‘What was happening?’ but now it’s done, it’s great.”

The title ‘Beneath The Skin’ “describes the album well. Going beneath the skin, if you can, is going beneath everything,” explains Nanna. “We talked about it a lot. Our first album was searching outwards and was very enthusiastic about everything. We were making up stories and trying to see the world from our home in Iceland. Everything outside of there was so exciting but once we’d spent all that time out there in the world, we felt like we were really missing home. This album is also a lot more insular. It’s a lot more about figuring yourself out; it’s the polar opposite in a way. ‘Beneath The Skin’ is about growing up.”

“It’s definitely a more personal album,” continues Nanna. “I never felt any pressure when we went into the album but maybe that’s just what I thought. We were just doing our thing but when you look back, now we’ve done the album and we’re laughing, you can see all the stress and the craziness behind it. We were probably really stressed out but we just didn’t realise it. It was probably good that I was pushing those feelings away and didn’t let it affect me.”

‘Beneath The Skin’ is out on 8th June and the band has a very simple desire for it. “I want people to experience it in their own way,” exclaims Nanna. “We put a lot of work and love into it, we’re very proud of our little baby.”

Of Monsters and Men will play Best Kept Secret (19th - 21st June), Open’er (1st - 4th July) and Bilbao BBK Live (9th - 11th July), where DIY is an official media partner. Tickets are on sale now. Visit diymag.com/presents for more information.

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