OF+MONSTERS+AND+MEN+(Álex)

//Of monsters and men // INDEX: 1. INTRODUCTION

2. HISTORY

3. DISCOGRAPHY 4. BIOGRAPHY 5. VIDEOS

6. REFERENCES 7. PHOTOS

// 1. INTRODUCTION //
Of Monsters and Men is a five-piece 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.The band won the Músíktilraunir in 2010, an annual battle of the bands competition in Iceland.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.

//** 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. 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.

//** 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.In August 2011, Philadelphia's Radio 104.5 began playing “Little Talks” and propelled the band to nationwide popularity. Their debut album My Head Is an Animal was released in Iceland in September 2011 with both it and "Little Talks" hitting No. 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. 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.

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. Of Monsters and Men also appeared October 5, 2012 on the new PBS music show, "Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders," performing "Mountain Sound."

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.

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. 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.

3. DISCOGRAPHY
ALBUMS

> April 3, 2012 ( North America ) > April 27, 2012 ( Europe )
 * ~ Title ||~ Album details ||||||||||||||||||||||~ Peak chart positions ||~ Sales ||~ Certifications ||
 * ^  ||^   ||~ [|AUS] ||~ [|AUT] ||~ BEL ||~ [|BEL] ||~ [|CAN] ||~ [|GER] ||~ [|IRE] ||~ [|NL] ||~ [|NZ] ||~ [|US] ||~ [|UK] ||^   ||^   ||
 * ~ // My Head Is an Animal // || * Released: September 20, 2011 ( Iceland )
 * Label: Universal Music Group
 * Formats: CD, digital download || 1 || 17 || 14 || 45 || 4 || 4 || 1 || 5 || 4 || 6 || 3 || * US: 629,000 || *  [|CAN] : Platinum
 * [|GER] : Gold
 * [|RIAA] : Gold
 * [|ARIA] : Gold ||

EXTENDED PLAYS


 * ~ Title ||~ Album details ||||~ Peak chart positions ||
 * ^  ||^   ||~ [|US] ||~ [|US] ||
 * ~ // Into the Woods // || * Released: December 20, 2011 ( United States )
 * Label: Republic Records
 * Formats: CD, digital download || 108 || 18 ||

SINGLES

Alt. ||^  ||^   || media type="youtube" key="5AiSrCPvpco" height="315" width="560"
 * ~ Title ||~ Year ||||||||||||||||||||||||~ Peak chart positions ||~ Certifications ||~ Album ||
 * ^  ||^   ||~ ICE ||~ AUS ||~ AUT ||~ BEL ||~ CAN ||~ GER ||~ ITA ||~ IRE ||~ NZ ||~ UK ||~ US ||~ US
 * ~ " Little Talks " || 2011 || 1 || 7 || 9 || 3 || 55 || 5 || 3 || 1 || 4 || 12 || 20 || 1 || * AUS : 3× Platinum
 * CAN: Platinum
 * GER : Platinum
 * ITA : Platinum
 * US : Platinum || //My Head Is an Animal// ||
 * ~ " Dirty Paws " || 2012 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 35 || — || — || — ||^  ||
 * ~ " Mountain Sound " ||^  || — || 39 || — || 53 || 69 || — || — || 55 || — || 66 || 103 || 5 ||   ||
 * ~ "King And Lionheart" || 2013 || 1 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — ||^  ||

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4. BIOGRAPHY
Of Monsters and Men is an amiable group of day dreamers who craft folkie pop songs. But last year, 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. “We just kind of…won,” recalls co-singer/guitarist Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir. “We weren’t expecting it at all. So I said, ‘Everybody come to my place!’” Beer-swilling friends spilled out of her flat. “I was like, ‘Oh fuck, my neighbors aren’t liking me right now.’” Those neighbors won’t be making noise complaints anymore. With the group’s bright, trumpeting single “Little Talks” winning over one blog at a time, Nanna and her bandmates (co-singer/guitarist Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson, guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, piano/accordion player Árni Guðjónsson, and bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson) are well on their way to becoming citizens of the world. 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. For inspiration, they often reference random stories they’ve read. The chanting, tribal “Six Weeks” was inspired by the true tale of American frontiersman Hugh Glass, seemingly left for dead after 86ing a bear that attacked him. Explains Nanna, giggling: “I was reading a post about the six most badass guys in history.” As for the swelling, epic “From Finner”? “It’s about a whale that has a house on its back” says Raggi "on which people travel across the ocean, exploring different places and having adventures." They also dig deeper, past legends of grizzly men and whale riders. “Little Talks,” for instance, explores loneliness and insanity, while “Love Love Love” ruefully ruminates on heartbreak. “If you listen to the lyrics, they’re not as uplifting,” he says. “But our music is meant to be fun to sing along to.” In September, Of Monsters and Men threw another party—a more thoughtful gathering 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, will drop worldwide in early 2012.) For the occasion, they cut out animal masks for the attendees to wear, making them makeshift monster-men/women. “Iceland can be a very isolated country and that translates to the music," Nanna says, adding,"We get stuck in our little world".

4. VIDEOS

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Hey! Hey! Hey!

I dont like walking around this old and empty house So hold my hand Ill walk with you my dear The stairs creak as I sleep its keeping me awake Its the house telling you to close your eyes Some days I cant even dress myself Its killing me to see you this way Cause though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore Hey! Hey! Hey! Theres an old voice in my head thats holding me back Well tell her that I miss our little talks Soon it will all be over and buried with our past We used to play outside when we were young and full of life and full of love Some days I feel like Im wrong when I am right Your mind is playing tricks on you my dear Cause though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore Hey! Dont listen to a word I say Hey! The streets all sound the same Hey! Though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore Youre gone gone gone away I watched you disappear All this life is a ghost of you Now were torn torn torn apart theres nothing we can do Just let me go well meet again soon No wait wait wait for me Please hang around Ill see you when I fall asleep Hey! Dont listen to a word I say Hey! The streets all sound the same Hey! Though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore Dont listen to a word I say Hey! The streets all sound the same Hey! Though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore And though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore Though the truth may vary this ship will carry our bodies safe to shore

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I heard them calling in the distance So I packed my things and ran Far away from all the trouble I had caused with my two hands

Alone we travelled on with nothing but a shadow We fled, far away

// [Chorus:] // Hold your horses now (Sleep until the sun goes down) Through the woods we ran (Deep into the mountain sound) Hold your horses now (Sleep until the sun goes down) Through the woods we ran

Some had scars and some had scratches It made me wonder about their past And as I looked around I began to notice That we were nothing like the rest

// [Chorus] //

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh We sleep until the sun goes down Whoa-oh, whoa-oh We sleep until the sun goes down

Whoa-oh-oh-oh We sleep until the sun goes down

// [Chorus 2x] //

La la la, whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh La la la, we sleep until the sun goes down La la la, whoa-oh, whoa-oh La la la, we sleep until the sun goes

6. REFERENCES
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7. PHOTOS