I bought My Head is an Animal by Of Men and Monsters, only because I knew the LP came on pink vinyl, which I thought was cool. Little did I know that on that pink vinyl was one of my new favorite albums of the last year.
My Head is an Animal is a tricky album to define because it takes inspiration from some of everything. It’s independent (produced under Universal Records) and has a rock/pop/folk sound to it that reminded me of bands such as Mumford and Sons as well as Florence and the Machine. But this is an animal all its own.
The music goes from soothing acoustic melodies in songs such as “Love Love Love” & “Slow and Steady”, to soaring pop epicness such as in “Little Talks” with poetic lyrics and a wide array of instruments that- at times- sends a chill.
The band has had immense success already in the US with the release of their single “Little Talks” which incorporates trumpets with swelling, quick-tempo pop music.
Their success is also surprising because they are not from an English-speaking country. They are Icelandic and already released their album in Europe and are just now releasing their album in the US.
What made this band so intriguing is that this album does not sound like any typical debut album. For many artists it takes a few albums before they finally become popular, or hit their stride artistically, but this debut album is as good as any established artist’s.
A great thing about the album is the amazing duets that take place throughout almost every song. The songs “Dirty Paws” and “Little Talks” both stick out with incredible duet parts which leave me wanting to listen again and again to capture the sound in my head.
The entire album works well together with a wide range of songs that fit well together, and one of the great things about it is that there aren’t any bad songs, or any songs that don’t fit their sound. I have not encountered a single time where I have wanted to hit the “skip” button on my iPod, which is the case with some of my favorite albums. Instead with My Head is an Animal the songs are akin to puzzle pieces that make up a larger picture. All-in-all I definitely recommend at least giving this a listen on Spotify sometime.
