I have found my summer road trip album.
Beneath the Skin, Of Monsters and Men’s latest release, is the kind of high-energy music that makes you want to roll your windows down and drive off into the sunset. It is the band’s second full-length album, and builds on the sound that was established with My Head is an Animal.
As a whole, this album has a more polished feel, but they still give the sense that commercial success has not changed their writing and production styles. It seems that in the four years since My Head is an Animal was released in the band’s home country of Iceland, they’ve matured to create a sound that stays true to their roots while still progressing musically.
There is, however, a lack of whimsical storytelling on this album in comparison to their previous work. While it’s probably a solid decision in the long run, it could be a shock for someone who enjoyed this element that was present in “Dirty Paws,” for instance. That is not to say that the band has abandoned what made them lyrically brilliant: it is that this has become polished as well.
When whimsical elements do appear, they are integrated in a manner that fits with the overall stylistic choices made throughout the album.
My top five songs from the album are “Crystals,” “Wolves Without Teeth,” “Thousand Eyes,” “I of the Storm,” and “We Sink.” “Crystals” has the most in common with the songs from My Head is an Animal and has a good energy. “Wolves Without Teeth” brings some of the whimsy that was also featured on their previous album, but in a manner that is less of a theatrical story and more based on their word choices — it’s subtle yet equally magical.
“Thousand Eyes” is a beautiful example of mixing the lyrics with the overall structure of a song in which one element does not stand out over the other. “I of the Storm” showcases the vocal talents of Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, — any song doing so is consistently mesmerizing. “We Sink” contains multiple rises and falls in energy, yet is always building in intensity even with the very calm and subdued ending.
This feels more like a best-of album than a sophomore release. Beneath the Skin is magical, but it left me wanting more.
