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Of Monsters and Men

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Of Monsters and Men
pillukarva
Of Monsters and Men Playing in New York City on 5 April 2012
Background information
OriginKeflavík/Garðabær, Iceland
GenresIndie folk, indie pop, indie rock, folk rock
Years active2010–present
LabelsRecord, Universal
MembersNanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir
Ragnar Þórhallsson
Brynjar Leifsson
Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson
Kristján Páll Kristjánsson
Past membersÁrni Guðjónsson
Websiteofmonstersandmen.is

Of Monsters and Men is a five-piece indie folk/indie pop band from Iceland, formed in 2010. The members are co-singer/guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, co-singer/guitarist Ragnar "Raggi" Þórhallsson, guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, and bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson.[1][2] The band won the Músíktilraunir in 2010, an annual battle of the bands competition in Iceland.[3] In 2011, Of Monsters and Men released an EP entitled Into the Woods. The band's debut album My Head Is an Animal (2011), peaked at No. 6 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, No. 3 in the UK and also reached other European charts. Its lead single "Little Talks" was an international success, reaching the Top 20 in over five countries and No. 1 on US Alternative Songs.

Of Monsters and Men is a winner of the 2013 European Border Breakers Awards. The European Border Breakers Awards honour the best new music acts in Europe. The award ceremony takes place at the Eurosonic Noorderslag music festival in Groningen (NL).

Their musical style has been frequently compared to indie groups like Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.[4]

History

Formation and early work (2009—2010)

Of Monsters and Men performing in October, 2011.

The band's origins began in 2009 when Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir decided to add to her solo project, Songbird. Of Monsters and Men entered 2010's Músíktilraunir as a quartet with members Nanna (co lead vocals, guitar), Raggi (co lead vocals, guitar, melodica, glockenspiel), Brynjar (guitar, melodica, backing vocals), and Arnar (drums, percussion, melodica, glockenspiel, accordion, backing vocals), Following Músiktilraunir, the quartet added two more members, Árni (accordion/keys, backing vocals) and Kristján (bass, backing vocals) and continued to tour venues in Iceland and work on new songs.[5]

They were invited to perform at the 2010 Iceland Airwaves festival, and it is there that the Seattle-based radio station KEXP recorded the band performing "Little Talks" from a Living Room Session.[6]

My Head Is an Animal (2011—present)

The band signed with Record Records in February 2011 for the release of their debut album in Iceland.[7] In August 2011, Philadelphia's Radio 104.5 began playing “Little Talks” and propelled the band to nationwide popularity.[8] Their debut album My Head Is an Animal was released in Iceland in September 2011 with both it and "Little Talks" hitting No. 1.[1]

With success in Iceland, and growing popularity in the USA, the band was signed to Universal for a worldwide release of their debut album.[9] The band released its Into the Woods EP on 20 December 2011, which features four songs from their debut album, and later released My Head Is an Animal in the United States on 3 April 2012.[10]

The band performed at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island on July 29, 2012,Osheaga Festival in Montreal on August 3, 2012, and then at Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 5, 2012. In recent weeks, they have toured in several European countries including Ireland, Germany, Italy, and Sweden.[11] Of Monsters and Men also appeared October 5, 2012 on the new PBS music show, "Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders," performing "Mountain Sound." [12]

Trumpeter, Ragnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, joined in the 2012 tour, and is simply a session player. The band has not commented on interest to eventually bring her into the band.[13]

The band will play T in the Park in July 2013, the biggest music festival in Scotland. They are also scheduled to play at Coachella, on April 12th and 19th.[14] On January 26th, 2013, Little Talks was voted into the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2012 at number two, a prestigious musical honor in Australia.

Discography

Albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales Certifications
AUS
[15] 		AUT
[16] 		BEL (Fla)
[17] 		BEL (Wal)
[18] 		CAN
[19] 		GER
[20] 		IRE
[21] 		NL
[22] 		NZ
[23] 		US
[19] 		UK
[24]
My Head Is an Animal 1 17 14 45 4 4 1 5 4 6 3

Extended plays

Title Album details Peak chart positions
US
[19] 		US
Alt.
[19]
Into the Woods 108 18

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
ICE
[28] 		AUS
[15] 		AUT
[16] 		BEL (Fla)
[17] 		CAN
[19] 		GER
[20] 		ITA
[29] 		IRE
[30] 		NZ
[23] 		UK
[24] 		US
[19] 		US
Alt.
[19]
"Little Talks" 2011 1 7 9 3 55 5 3 1 4 12 20 1 My Head Is an Animal
"Dirty Paws" 2012 — — — — — — — — 35 — — —
"Mountain Sound"[A] — 39 — 53 69 — — 55 — 66 103 5
"King And Lionheart" 2013 1 — — — — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes singles that were not released, or did not chart.

Promotional single: "Six Weeks" from My Head Is an Animal/Into The Woods. Released: August 27th 2012 (UK only)

Notes

  • A ^ "Mountain Sound" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 4 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.[36]
  • B Arni has decided to leave the band and go back to school. They are all still close and the band says they are not looking to replace him. Steingrimur Karl Teague is touring with the band playing keys and accordian in his place at the present time.[37]

References

  1. ^ a b "Of Monsters and Men Facebook Page". Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  2. ^ "Of Monsters and Men in exultant Philadelphia debut". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Músíktilraunir – English". Musiktilraunir.is. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  4. ^ http://www.thebaybridged.com/2012/08/06/interview-of-monsters-and-men-break-from-icelands-isolation/
  5. ^ "Of Monsters and Men: Iceland's Folk-Pop Stars". Paste Magazine. Sept. 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks; KEXP". KEXP. 16 Oct 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  7. ^ "Of Monsters and Men Sign with Record Records". Record Records. 3 Feb 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  8. ^ http://www.indierockcafe.com/2012/04/of-monsters-and-men-the-lumineers-max-and-the-moon-lux-twin-steps/
  9. ^ "Universal Signs Icelandic Band Of Monsters and Men". Iceland Review. 23 Oct 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  10. ^ "Friday on My Mind: KEXP's Most Viewed In-Studio Sessions". KEXP. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ http://www.pbs.org/soundtracks/stories/monsters/
  13. ^ https://twitter.com/nannabh89/status/239012122783260672
  14. ^ http://www.coachella.com/index.php#
  15. ^ a b "ARIA Albums Charts". ARIA. Cite error: The named reference "aus" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b "Of Monsters And Men - Austrian Charts". austriancharts.at/ Hung Medien.
  17. ^ a b "Of Monsters And Men - Belgium (Flanders) Charts". ultratop.be/nl/ Hung Medien.
  18. ^ "Of Monsters And Men - Belgium (Wallonia) Charts". ultratop.be/fr/ Hung Medien.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g "Of Monsters and Men Album & Song Chart History". billboard.com/.
  20. ^ a b "Of Monsters And Men - German Charts". charts.de/ Hung Medien.
  21. ^ "Top 100 Individual Artist Albums - Week ending 30th August 2012". Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  22. ^ "Of Monsters And Men - Dutch Charts". dutchcharts.nl/ Hung Medien.
  23. ^ a b "Of Monsters And Men - New Zealand Charts". charts.org.nz/ Hung Medien.
  24. ^ a b "Of Monsters and Men - UK Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  25. ^ https://twitter.com/chartnews/status/295169914275237888
  26. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Of Monsters and Men – My Head Is an Animal". Music Canada.
  27. ^ http://www.musikindustrie.de/no_cache/gold_platin_datenbank/#topSearch
  28. ^ "Iceland Chart History". tonlist.is/.
  29. ^ "Italy Charts: Top Digital Download". Federation of the Italian Music Industry. fimi.it. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  30. ^ "Of Monsters And Men - Irish Charts". irish-charts.com/ Hung Medien.
  31. ^ "Australia Certifications". Australian Recording Industry Association. aria.com.au. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  32. ^ "Canadian digital download certifications – Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks". Music Canada.
  33. ^ "Certifications in Germany". 17 August 2012.
  34. ^ "Italy Certifications" (PDF). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. fimi.it. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  35. ^ "Week Ending Oct. 21, 2012. Songs: Rihanna Ties Whitney". Recording Industry Association of America. music.yahoo.com. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  36. ^ "Bubbling Under Hot 100 Week of January 19, 2013". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  37. ^ Reason why Arni left http://fuckyeahnannabh.com/image/36837821281 . Retrieved 19 January 2013
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