Of Monsters & Men at Rough Trade East
After nearly five years away from the spotlight (save for brief, sporadic appearances), Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men have emerged from the mist with a new album, All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade. Before this 2025 release, their latest record of original material, 2019’s Fever Dream, marked a deliberate shift towards harder, more aggressive rock territory – “I just knew what I was about to do when I sat down with the guitar and I really, just desperately wanted to break out of that,” lead singer and songwriter Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir revealed in a 2019 interview with WWD.
Since their explosive debut in 2011, propelled by hits like Little Talks and Dirty Paws, Of Monsters and Men have consistently delivered delicate, never predictable compositions that satisfy even the most discerning listeners, steadfastly resisting the siren call of easy commercialism. Their most intimate moment came through Hilmarsdóttir’s solo project, How to Start a Garden, released in 2023, as well as her remarkable collaboration with fellow Icelander and contemporary classical composer Ólafur Arnalds, showcasing her artistic range. The overall results of this evolution – as a band and individuals – can be fully enjoyed in All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade. To launch this new chapter, Of Monsters and Men have chosen the UK, with two shows in London, including an intimate venue next to the Old Truman Brewery, Rough Trade East.
The evening performance particularly showcased the quintet’s mastery in musical craft: instruments differently tuned between songs, drummer and multi-instrumentalist Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson displaying virtuosic versatility as he swapped the melodica for the glockenspiel and then back to the cymbals, and Brynjar Leifsson’s electric guitar work – neither rhythm nor lead, but something more decorative, enriched each song’s melodic extensions. Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Þórhallsson commanded the stage with understated charisma, while bassist Kristján anchored the performance with precision.
The setlist drew heavily from the new album, with just one throwback, the closing Love Love Love from debut My Head Is an Animal, reportedly Nanna’s first-ever composition. In The Block, the band weaved in indie melodies with jazzy flourishes, as well as conjured the fairytale mystique of their Nordic homeland, an element even more prominent in Ordinary Creature. At the heart of their uniquely metered, melodically intertwined lyrics lies an intense focus on personal and emotional complexity, sometimes tinged with conflict: in Television Love, it’s expressed in lines such as “Look at me I’m lookin’ strong / Saw you at a traffic stop / Waitin’ for the ground to drop”. The track sequence reaffirms the band’s signature sophistication and shadowy beauty while reaching for an elusive, melancholic joy often found in domestic, familiar spaces.
Emotionally and musically unmissable were Tuna in a Can and Mouse Parade, the latter featuring an exquisite five-part vocal arrangement. For Ordinary Creature, Þórhallsson urged the small crowd to sing together, “I wish I could run to your house when it gets dark out.” And the audience took over the vocals, while the little stage from where the artists were playing went almost completely quiet, if not for a light beating of the drums and a gentle picking of the guitar chords. The people in the room embraced the absorbing atmosphere, as one should embrace the mysterious Nordic creatures that inhabit the forests of our minds – without making a fuss. While the world outside pushes and pulls into chaos, this type of reconnection is likely what we all need right now.
Paolo Beltrame
Photos: Cristiana Ferrauti
For further information and future events, visit Of Monsters & Men’s website here.
Watch the video for Television Love here:
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