The newest studio album released by indie Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men released late last week. Fever Dream is quite a departure for the band musically, but maintains the essence of what the band has always been. The melodies are reflective and calming, while managing to deliver strong and uplifting rhythms. As always, the vocals are deep and emotional, both lyrically and musically. Often in their music, we find these different parts being contradicting, and I think that is beautiful. On occasion, these are very much in line. The track Waiting For The Snow from Fever Dream reminds me so much of Organs from the second album, Beneath The Skin. Both are very emotional lyrically, musically, and rhythmically.
Of course, right off the bat the most notable difference that comes with this most recent album is the change in instruments. No longer does Nanna provide the leading acoustic guitar to every track that gave the band its folk vibes, instead opting for an overall more modern, electronic/pop sound. This does not mean they do not sound distinctively like themselves, or even folk, because they are still very much recognizable. Just maybe a bit slower for most of the album than previously. This shift was due to Nanna sitting down to write songs with her guitar and simply not feeling like the songs were coming as naturally as they have in the past.
Such a dramatic shift in a group’s sound is not uncommon. Just a few years ago, back in 2015, Mumford and Sons went through a very similar change in sound that has continued with their most recent album last year, in 2018. Though both bands went in different directions with their shifts, they began very similarly, having a more folk-ish sound and transitioning into a more modern and electric sound.
While the shift can be felt very clearly, there seem to be only a few very significant changes in the new sound from OMAM. First being more use of a synthesizer and secondly a greater emphasis on the bass. These are two very simple changes for the band overall, but are enough to provide a clear shift in direction.
Even with the seemingly huge change in sound that the band has taken, Fever Dream still feels like another masterpiece by Of Monsters And Men. It takes the spot as the band’s shortest studio album to date, sitting at only 40:30 in length, compared to the 48:33 listen time in Beneath The Skin and the much heftier 59:38 run time for the band’s debut album, My Head Is An Animal.
