Marking an important milestone, multiplatinum Icelandic collective Of Monsters and Men announce My Head Is An Animal (10th Anniversary Edition) to be released on October 29th.
To celebrate a decade since the arrival of their platinum-certified debut My Head Is An Animal, the group is releasing a version of the album as it was when it was released in Iceland in 2011. This version has a total of four tracks that were not on the 2012 US release, including two never-before-released songs: “Phantom” and “Sugar In A Bowl.” The anniversary album will also be accompanied by commemorative merchandise and a limited-edition vinyl as a special thank you for fans.
Pre-order/Pre-save My Head Is An Animal (10th Anniversary Edition) album and view exclusive merchandise—HERE.
Watch the trailer for new single “Phantom” HERE.
Regarding this moment, the band commented: “It’s been 10 years since the original edition of MHIAA was released in Iceland and because of that we wanted to do something special so we’re releasing a 10th anniversary edition of the album as well as performing some fun live, intimate anniversary shows from Iceland from the venue where we played our first album release party ever.
The track list matches the one from that first edition of the album that came out in Iceland in 2011 plus two unreleased bonus tracks that sort of got left behind when making the record.
This album is how most of you got to know us and how we got to know you and for that we are forever grateful.
Thank you to everyone that listened to and supported us this past decade.
Here is to another 10 years!
Love, OMAM”
While “Phantom” and “Sugar In A Bowl” are newly recorded songs, they are not new to the band. “Phantom” was first performed by Of Monsters and Men in 2010 at the renowned Músíktilraunir music competition. It was one of the two songs performed when they took home first place in the competition helping to jumpstart their career. The album features another unreleased track entitled “Sugar In A Bowl”—also composed and conceptualized over decade ago but never recorded.
Continuing the celebration of their anniversary the band also announce their first and only live shows of 2021: Of Monsters and Men: The 10 Year Anniversary Celebration of My Head Is An Animal where they will be performing two intimate shows at Gamla Bíó (the venue where they held the album release party for the album in 2011) on November 9th and 10th. The band will play the album in its entirety as well as other OMAM favorites both older and newer. Pre-sale for Of Monsters and Men: The 10 Year Anniversary Celebration of My Head Is An Animal starts October 13th at 10am GMT and general on sale begins on October 14th at 10am GMT. Fans can head to http://ofmonstersandmen.com for more details.
Upon release in 2011, My Head Is An Animal scaled the Billboard Top 200, bowing at #6. It also boasted the quintuple-platinum “Little Talks,” which became “the first song by an Icelandic band to cross 1 billion streams on Spotify,” and the gold-selling “Dirty Paws.” To date the album has been streamed nearly 5 billion times globally and was the starting point for the band’s long career.
Since the start of the pandemic, the band has been keeping busy in Iceland. They released a cover of Post Malone’s “Circles,” in April 2020 that the band performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (see performance here). Last Fall they released new original track “Visitor,” which generated over 14 million streams worldwide and performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The performance was shot in Iceland in the landmark theater IÐNO in central Reykjavik. See the incredible performance here. The track was also remixed by indie darlings MUNA who gave new life to the track (listen here).
In 2019, the group welcomed listeners into the embrace of their critically acclaimed third full-length album, FEVER DREAM. Not only did the record tally 80 million-plus total streams to date, but it also attracted acclaim from Billboard, NPR, The Line of Best Fit, Independent, Paste, and more. Clash Magazine claimed, “The songs also have an emotional content to them that is hard to ignore.” Q Magazine praised it as “a dizzying rush of exuberance and emotion…their transformation into an arena-ready pop beast is complete.” Notably, the single “Alligator” made history by completing “their quickest climb to #1 on the Adult Alternative Songs Airplay Chart,” as reported by Billboard. In addition to selling out dates coast-to-coast on the FEVER DREAM Tour, the group delivered rapturous television performances on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! ,The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Ellen.
OF MONSTERS AND MEN went from the talk of Iceland to the top of the global conversation on their 2011 debut, My Head Is An Animal which landed the band a performance on Saturday Night Live. The group appeared on official soundtracks for franchises such as The Hunger Games, The Walking Dead, and Beat Bugs, to name a few. In addition to performing at festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, Firefly, and beyond, they supported Florence + the Machine on a high-profile arena tour. In the midst of this rapid rise, 2015’s Beneath The Skin bowed in the Top 3 of the Billboard Top 200 and the band had a coveted cameo in an episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones in the same year.
My Head Is An Animal (10th Anniversary Edition) Tracklist:
1.) Dirty Paws
2.) King and Lionheart
3.) Numb Bears
4.) Sloom
5.) Little Talks
6.) From Finner
7.) Six Weeks
8.) Love Love Love
9.) Your Bones
10.) Lakehouse
11.) Yellow Light
12.) Sinking Man
13.) Phantom*
14.) Sugar In A Bowl*
*Never before released song
