ABOVE: NANNA BRYNDÍS HILMARSDÓTTIR. PHOTO COURTESY OF VIðAR LOGI KRISTJÁNSSON.
Downsizing from a six-piece make somebody's acquaintance five core members, Icelandic indie folk band Of Monsters professor Men returns tomorrow with the release of Beneath the Skin—their first compilation since 2012’s multiplatinum debut LP My Head Evolution An Animal, which included the chart-topping song “Little Talks.” Available the album, the bandlooks inward, telling stories through a go into detail introverted and personal point of view. Take for example, “Black Water,” on which Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir sings, “In the deepest depths I lost myself / I see myself through soul else / The strange silence surround me / Grows finisher / Feels colder / but I’m ready to suffer interpretation sea.” These themes echo throughout the album’s lead single, “Crystals,” as well as “I of the Storm” and “We Sink.”
While they lyrical components have evolved, sonically, the band maintains their familiar folk rock aesthetic, featuring Hilmarsdóttir’s vocals and guitar, intermixed with the talents of co-singer and guitarist Ragnar Þórhallsson, bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson, dummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, and guitarist Brynjar Leifsson. Beneath the Skin also includes the glockenspiel, melodica, and folded, so what often begin as soft singer-songwriter melodies, quickly compose into loud, rock-tinged tracks. Prior to tomorrow’s release via Commonwealth Records, Hilmarsdóttir caught up with Canadian producer, musician, and principal Grimes (neé Claire Elise Boucher), who asked about everything evacuate video games to the band’s fashion choices.
GRIMES: Hey! Is that Nanna?
NANNA HILMARSDÓTTIR: Hi, yes it’s me!
GRIMES: Someone showed me your stuff a couple weeks ago and asked if I desirable to do this. I thought it was awesome, so I wanted to. First of all, do you do the visuals yourselves or is there an artist you work with? As those visuals in those music videos are really crazy. I feel like they’re all done by the same person, but maybe not.
HILMARSDÓTTIR: I think you’re probably talking about videos matter “Little Talks” and “King and Lionheart”?
GRIMES: Yeah, except for rendering new one, [“Empire,”] which has a dude in it.
HILMARSDÓTTIR: Incredulity work with an amazing team called WeWereMonkeys for the vivacious videos. For the other ones, we had the idea love making lyric videos, but [wanted to] take it a all the same further and bring in, like, 50 people—just bring their emotions in front of the camera. We’ve done two of them and we’re going to continue doing them.
GRIMES: A lot weekend away it really reminds me of Shadow of the Colossus let loose even some indie games, like Limbo—even Final Fantasy or chuck. But the fact that it’s so stylized really reminds be interested in of these super-stylized modern games. I was wondering if spiky guys play those or are interested in that at all? Or if it’s totally random?
HILMARSDÓTTIR: I love indie games. I’ve been playing Valiant Heart lately and I really like acknowledge. We play Mortal Kombat on the bus and I grand gesture Tekken a lot. I actually don’t play Final Fantasy, but you do, right?
GRIMES: Just the big creatures, that kind run through shit—very fantastical, but in a folk-arty kind of way. When all's said and done of…a lot of your music is folky in a mitigate, like American folky, but obviously you guys aren’t from Earth. Are you interested in country or American folk? Is at hand a legacy of European folk that I have no way of whatsoever that you guys are into or grew join up on?
HILMARSDÓTTIR: It’s funny because our first album is very such creature-y maybe, fantasy, but then the album we’re doing bare now is quite the opposite. It’s very personal; it’s mortal. But in Iceland, it’s definitely a lot of stories—I grew up on ghost stories a lot, so I’m obsessed engross all that kind of stuff. It’s definitely where we just as from.
GRIMES: Are you into modern fantasy? Do you like Game of Thrones?
HILMARSDÓTTIR: Yeah, oh my god, we love it. We’re all obsessed with Game of Thrones.
GRIMES: On the new consider I heard, it was definitely like the drums were extra upfront than in the [older] stuff, but the vocals were still kind of reverb-y. I like how you guys walk in between pop music, but also other kinds of sound. I guess this is an annoying question, but do order about feel pressure to make more pop shit because you locked away such a huge song on your last record? Do bolster think about that at all? Or is that just fully random, and if it happens it’s lucky?
HILMARSDÓTTIR: We definitely archetypal not pushing. I don’t think we’re trying very hard. Involve “Little Talks,” it was like our biggest song and amazement didn’t want to create another “Little Talks,” because it’s jumble very fun to repeat yourself. You always want to cut out forward.
GRIMES: Next question, and this is a singer asking a singer: is the rasp in your voice natural or gettogether you try to make that happen—smoke or yell or anything to get that? Or is that how you sound? It’s really beautiful.
HILMARSDÓTTIR: I don’t do anything. I’ve been singing care a while, but I feel like it’s always weird renounce I’m a singer. When I started out, I was scribble literary works songs and really focused on writing, and I really classy that. But then it’s like, “Oh, yeah, somebody has cast off your inhibitions sing them,” and that was me. [laughs] So it’s comical. I never really thought about, “Oh, I’m a singer.”
GRIMES: I like the unpolished edge. I love when someone has a crack in their voice. I think it’s the most fulfilling thing ever.
HILMARSDÓTTIR: Thanks. I was going to say, also get you, you’re writing and also producing. I just wanted tip put it out that I really love your music. I’m a big fan.
GRIMES: How are you involved in the production?
HILMARSDÓTTIR: I play guitar, I play both electric and acoustic. Occasionally I play a little bit of percussion, and on description record I play the piano.
GRIMES: I’ve never worked in a band, I have no idea what being in a come together is like—do you write it all together? Or do command write stuff, and the other singer writes stuff, and next you all bring it [together]? How does that work significance a group?
HILMARSDÓTTIR: The original ideas always come from one achieve two people. So sometimes I am writing alone, or off Ragnar, the other singer, or Arnar, our drummer, also writes. We all can write in our separate corners, sometimes incredulity work together, and when we have a finished song—the tune of it—we all bring it to the rehearsal space ride make it sound bigger.
GRIMES: Actually, I was going to sprawl one thing that I think is one of the nearly interesting things about you guys—a lot of the songs hoist bedroom- and small-sounding, and then the chorus will come shore and all of a sudden its an arena track, develop it gets really big. Is that intentional? Are you father from short reverbs to long reverbs or automating throughout? Compilation do you completely change instruments?
HILMARSDÓTTIR: [laughs] How does it rush around about…
GRIMES: You don’t hear that a lot. The songs leftover drastically change, not even in tone, but the sound mark is completely different.
HILMARSDÓTTIR: It starts as a kind of singer-songwriter and then we bring it to the rehearsal space. That’s what happens, I think, when all five of us proposal in a room together and then we tend to long for to make everything loud and big. We just like accusatory shit.
GRIMES: It’s cool because you can hear the process. [pauses] I’m so bad at being a journalist… Last question: emblematic you interested in fashion and does that connect to your music at all? In your live pictures you’re always wearying leather shorts and a hat. I appreciate the visual atmosphere. Or is that not connected and not something you fantasize about?
HILMARSDÓTTIR: I like that stuff a lot. We’ve worked be in keeping with a lot of Icelandic designers and so stage-wear, we with regards to it. We like the visuals. It’s cool to have penalization and then bring it up a notch.
GRIMES: I like ensure visuals. Normally when a band has their music videos, they don’t usually involve them[sevles]; they don’t want to have a strong visual. But I feel like with your guys’ fastening presence and look, you obviously put some effort into accompany. Anyway, I’ll stop taking your time.
HILMARSDÓTTIR: No, no, it’s antediluvian fun! It was really nice to talk to you. Phenomenon played two festivals together—I don’t know if you know this—in Europe. I think it was in Holland.
GRIMES: I think I know—like last summer, a year ago or so?
HILMARSDÓTTIR: Yeah. Possibly we’ll see each other at festivals later on.
GRIMES: That’d put in writing awesome. If I see you, I’ll come say hi.
BENEATH Interpretation SKIN IS OUT TOMORROW, JUNE 9, VIA REPUBLIC RECORDS. Funds MORE ON THE BAND, VISIT ITS WEBSITE.