--Michael Drewes
Released July 26th, 2019 on Republic
Bursting out of the Icelandic folk scene in the early 2010s, Of Monsters and Men (OMAM) recently released their third studio album, Fever Dream. Their first album, My Head Is an Animal, was a massive hit worldwide, which quickly put OMAM on the map in big markets, getting tons of radio play and selling out concerts throughout North America.
Within the indie/alt and pop folk scenes, they were seen as a promising new artist. Differentiating themselves with a folk sound and the dueling vocals of Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Thórhallsson. Since then, OMAM has toured extensively, and traveled far away from their homeland. Sonically, they have deviated further than ever with Fever Dream.
All parts of Fever Dream sound very clean, almost spotless. Far from the backyard campfire folk band sound they seemed to embrace beautifully. Trading their acoustic guitars and trumpets for a larger sound, Fever Dream has more electric guitars and a heavy dose of reverb than My Head Is an Animal. Years ago, OMAM influenced me to purchase my Strymon BlueSky. Brynjar Leifsson, their lead guitarist, used a BigSky on My Head is an Animal. He created beautiful textures that could be mistaken for a synth. That type of usage is nowhere to be found on Fever Dream. This isn’t your grandmothers’ folk, but I suppose that’s not their intent. I hear more indie pop in these tracks, with synth pop/electronic pop influence on most songs.
But Leifsson's Blue Sky is just the tip of the gear iceberg with OMAM. I can't definitely say what they did and didn't use on Fever Dream but Equipboard.com has a comprehensive list of OMAM's setup. Check it out here.
As mentioned, this album sounds big. However, after garnering so much success with a simpler sound, I’m surprised that they have moved in this direction. Acoustic guitars are almost non-existent on the entire record, and trumpet has been left out entirely. Vocal effects are used sparingly on “Waiting For The Snow,” but even when used slightly they still sound forced. Heavy vocal distortion is used on “Under A Dome,” so much so that the words are lost, which would be of little consequence, except that the underlying music and melody is nothing to write home about. “Sleepwalker” is the only track with dueling vocals, but it has none of the exuberance of an older track like “Little Talks.” Overall the vocals seem to take a backseat on this album, getting lost in the mix on most songs.
Their sound has grown out from “small-town festival” folk, to something much more accessible to suburbanites; but in the process, I believe they’ve lost what once made them unique. These songs sound pre-packaged. They’re the type of songs you’d come across while walking through Target or Starbucks. OMAM was once a weed in a sea of grass, but has turned into just another blade swallowed up by the great lawnmower in the sky. Maybe they are trying just a little too hard to be popular. Sure, Fever Dream will get some radio play, it may even become commercially successful, but in 2 years from now, will you remember any of these songs? I’ve listened to this album several times, but each time I listen, it feels like the first time, and not in a good way. Hopefully they return to form on a future album.
Check out for the video for Alligator below:
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