My Head Is An Animal (10th Anniversary Edition)＜限定盤/Red Vinyl＞

アイスランド出身のインディ・フォークバンドの2011年に発売されたデビューアルバムの10周年記念盤。オリジナルには収録されなかった楽曲2曲を追加収録( "Phantom" と"Sugar In A Bowl")
※2枚組RED VINYL

Of Monsters and Men's 2012 full-length debut, My Head Is an Animal, features more of the Icelandic band's acoustic-driven alt-rock featured on their 2011 EP Into the Woods. Showcasing the dual singer/guitarist/songwriters Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir and Ragnar “Raggi” Porhallsson, the album also displays the six-piece ensemble's grand and anthemic style with a bent toward passionate folk-rock uplift and more layered, introspective moments. In that sense, the band brings to mind the work of such similarly inclined contemporaries as Arcade Fire, Angus & Julia Stone, and Mumford & Sons. While such cuts as the peppy, horn-driven "Little Talks," "Six Weeks," "Love Love Love," and "From Finner" are carryovers from Into the Woods, elsewhere we get the cinematic build of "King and Lionheart," the catchy, Florence + the Machine-sounding singalong "Mountain Sound," and the reverb-laden "Lakehouse." There's even the very '60s Celtic folk-meets-Ennio Morricone number "Your Bones." Thoughtfully crafted and full of melancholic lyricism and quietly desperate romanticism, My Head Is an Animal should appeal to any fan -- whether man or monster -- of sweet and wide-eyed folk-rock. ~ Matt Collar

予備知識ゼロで聴いて〈お、またUSインディー界から上質なフォーキー・ポップ・バンドが出てきたな〉と思ったが、男女混声のコーラス・ハーモニーや細かい音飾に昨今のUS勢とは一線を画する澄み切ったムードと無邪気さがチラついていて、そこが気にかかった。で、アイスランド出身だと知り、妙に納得。確かにこの神秘的な感じはかの地の音楽家たち特有のものだわね。ちなみに、この初作は全米6位を記録済み。
bounce (C)斎藤遠太