Of Monsters and Men

With their trumpets, accordions and mystical storytelling, Of Monsters and Men created a form of oddball indie folk to charm the music world and make them Iceland's highest-ever charting band in the US. Originally a solo project of Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdóttir, the group came together to win a nationwide battle of the bands competition before being spotted and championed by Seattle radio station KEXP at the Iceland Airwaves Festival in 2010. Their debut single "Little Talks" made the top 20 in the US charts and became a hit across the world, selling over two million copies in America alone, while album My Head Is an Animal (2011) reached number 3 in the UK charts. Drawing comparisons with Arcade Fire and Mumford and Sons, the band went on to play at the Glastonbury, Coachella and T in the Park festivals and ended 2013 as one of the most talked about young bands of the modern era. They released the follow-up albums Beneath the Skin in 2015 and Fever Dream in July 2019. In June 2022, Of Monsters and Men released the documentary Tíu, accompanied by an EP of the same name, at the 2022 Tribeca Film festival, as a celebration of the ten-year anniversary of My Head Is an Animal. Their first original release in three years, "Television Love" was followed by the fourth album All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade, released in October 2025 and containing other singles "Ordinary Creature", "Dream Team", and "Fruit Bat".