My Head Is an Animal

My Head Is an Animal is the debut studio album by the Icelandic indie folk band Of Monsters and Men,[2] released through Record Records in Iceland on 20 September 2011. After their success, topping the Icelandic charts with their debut single, "Little Talks", the band signed with Universal Music Group and the album was released internationally through Republic Records on 3 April 2012. The title of the album comes from the second line in "Dirty Paws".

My Head Is an Animal
Studio album by Of Monsters and Men
Released	20 September 2011
Recorded	26–28 March 2011; 9–25 January 2012
Studio	Studio Syrland, Vatnagarðar, Reykjavík[1]
Genre	Indie folk indie pop indie rock
Length	59:38
Label	Record, Republic
Producer	Of Monsters and Men, Aron Arnarsson, Jacquire King
Of Monsters and Men chronology
My Head Is an Animal (2011) Live from Vatnagarðar (2013)
Icelandic release
Singles from My Head Is an Animal
"Little Talks" Released: 20 December 2011 "Dirty Paws" Released: 12 April 2012 "Mountain Sound" Released: 2 September 2012 "King and Lionheart" Released: 3 March 2013

Cover art

The picture on the front of the international release is a picture that Brynjar's grandfather took of his friend. The original was black and white; Arnar Hilmarsson added the coloring. The picture on the back is a family picture that Ragnar found in his family pictures.[3]

The pictures on the front and back of the Icelandic release depict men dressed for the Icelandic national sport of Glima.

Release and promotion

Singles

"Little Talks" was released as the debut single by the band, and the lead single from My Head Is an Animal on 20 December 2011,[4] after it had been released as a promo to radio stations in the US and Europe in July 2011.[5] The single propelled the band to nationwide popularity in the US, and has so far sold a million copies there.[6] The success of the single in the US led to the band's signing with Universal Music Group, and the single, along with a revised version of My Head Is an Animal was released in North America on 3 April 2012.[7] The music video for the song debuted in February 2012.

"Dirty Paws" served as the second single from My Head Is an Animal in the UK and Ireland. It was released on 12 April 2012, in the lead up to the album's re-release in Europe. A promotional single followed in June.[8]

"Six Weeks" was released as a promotional single from the album in the UK and Ireland. It was released as a digital download on 27 August 2012.[9]

"Mountain Sound" was released in the US as the second single from the album, and the fourth overall. Seeing a release worldwide as the follow-up to "Little Talks" as well, it was released on 2 September 2012.[10] A music video to accompany the single was released on 24 September.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Beats Per Minute	81%[13]
Paste	[14]
Rolling Stone	[15]
Sputnikmusic	[16]

The album received positive reviews from music critics. On Metacritic it currently holds a rating of 66/100, signifying generally favourable reviews.[17]

Commercial performance

The album debuted in the United States at number six on the Billboard 200, selling 55,000 units in its first week alone.[18] This marked the best chart performance for an Icelandic musical artist in U.S. history.[18][19] The previous chart record was held by Björk's Volta, which peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 in 2009.[18] In January 2014, the band announced via Facebook that the album had achieved platinum certification in the United States.[20] As of June 2015, the album has sold 1.1 million copies in the US.[21]

Track listing

All songs are credited to Of Monsters and Men, but were actually written by the band's individuals and/or others. The actual writers are listed alongside the tracks.[22]

Original Iceland release

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Dirty Paws"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson	4:26
2.	"King and Lionheart"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir	4:35
3.	"Numb Bears"	Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson	2:45
4.	"Sloom"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson	4:42
5.	"Little Talks"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson	4:24
6.	"From Finner"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, Brynjar Leifsson	3:41
7.	"Six Weeks"	Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson	5:32
8.	"Love Love Love"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir	4:02
9.	"Your Bones"	Ragnar Þórhallsson	4:07
10.	"Lakehouse"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Brynjar Leifsson	5:42
11.	"Yellow Light" (ends at 4:52; hidden song "Sinking Man" starts at 13:04)	Ragnar Þórhallsson	15:45
Total length:			59:38

Universal Music Group re-issue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Dirty Paws"		4:38
2.	"King and Lionheart"		4:33
3.	"Mountain Sound"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson	3:35
4.	"Slow and Steady"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Hilmarsson, Árni Guðjónsson, Brynjar Leifsson, Kristján Páll Kristjánsson	5:01
5.	"From Finner"		3:43
6.	"Little Talks"		4:26
7.	"Six Weeks"		5:34
8.	"Love Love Love"		3:58
9.	"Your Bones"		4:09
10.	"Sloom"		4:43
11.	"Lakehouse"		4:35
12.	"Yellow Light"		4:52
Total length:			53:47

Universal Music Group re-issue; iTunes bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Numb Bears"	2:44
14.	"Little Talks" (music video)	4:11

Personnel

Of Monsters and Men Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson – drums, percussion Árni Guðjónsson – accordion, piano, organ Brynjar Leifsson – electric and baritone guitar Kristján Páll Kristjánsson – bass guitar Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir – vocals, acoustic guitar Ragnar Þórhallsson – vocals, acoustic guitar Additional musicians Ari Bragi Kárason – trumpet Ragnhildur Gunnarsdóttir – trumpet Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir – French horn

Production (Icelandic release) Of Monsters and Men – producer on all tracks Aron Arnarsson – producer, engineer, mixing on all tracks Styrmir Hauksson – mastering Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson – artwork, design Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir – artwork, design Ragnar Þórhallsson – artwork, design

Production (US release) Of Monsters and Men – producer on tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Aron Arnarsson – engineer, producer on tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 Jacquire King – producer on tracks 2, 3, 4, 11 Craig Silvey – mixing Greg Calbi – mastering Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson – artwork, design Ragnar Þórhallsson – artwork, design

Music and lyric videos

All music and lyric videos (except for the "Mountain Sound" music video, filmed live in Iceland) were produced and directed by Canadian production firm WeWereMonkeys. To create the video series, WeWereMonkeys drew inspiration from Nordic Mythology, suggestions from the band members and lyrics of the songs, to which they listened "over and over". They also travelled to Iceland, where they studied the landscape, in order to get ideas for the videos' settings. Several techniques were employed in the production, from live action to CGI, from stop-motion to digital painting.[23][24] The videos were praised, with the "Little Talks" music video receiving a nomination in the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for "Best Art Direction in a Video".[25][26]

Music videos

No.	Title	Music	Date of Release	Length
1.	"Little Talks"	The male members of the band portray a group of sky-sailors, who are joined by a female creature, played by Nanna, and together they travel across an Iceland-inspired fantastical landscape, facing difficulties and mythical creatures, before reaching their destination.	2 February 2012	4:14
2.	"Mountain Sound"	The official music video was filmed on 7 July 2012 and features the band performing live in Reykjavík.	14 September 2012	4:00
3.	"King and Lionheart"	The video follows the story of two royal siblings in a war-torn kingdom. After having been captured and separated by the invaders, they are rescued by two animal-like spirits, and try to reach out to each other. The video ends in a cliffhanger, with their sorts remaining unknown.	12 April 2012	4:26

Lyric videos

No.	Title	Lyrics	Date of Release	Length
1.	"Dirty Paws"	The lyric video features a black-furred beast carrying a flag through a blizzard while mythical birds fly overhead.	29 July 2014	4:34
2.	"King and Lionheart"	The lyric video features the same setting of the official music video. The capital city of a prosperous kingdom being observed from distance by the future invaders. While the song plays a heavy rain starts to fall on the city.	29 July 2014	4:29
3.	"Mountain Sound"	The lyric video features horses galloping through a rocky landscape covered with snow.	30 July 2014	3:31
4.	"Slow and Steady"	The lyric video features a bird flying over a snowy landscape.	31 July 2014	4:58
5.	"From Finner"	The lyric video features a huge sea monster carrying a village on its back.	31 July 2014	3:43
6.	"Little Talks"	The lyric video features the same scenery of the music video, with the same airship carrying the six band members.	2 August 2014	4:22
7.	"Six Weeks"	The lyric video features a forest on a winter night with a giant occasionally walking past.	3 August 2014	5:31
8.	"Love Love Love"	The lyric video features a Minotaur on a boat, staring at the water, during a rainstorm while a sea dragon, beneath the surface, stares at him.	4 August 2014	3:55
9.	"Your Bones"	The lyric video features a boat made out of bones sailing away into the sunset and eventually bursting into flames.	5 August 2014	4:07
10.	"Sloom"	The lyric video features a swamp with various creatures occasionally breaking the surface.	29 August 2014	4:41
11.	"Lakehouse"	The lyric video features a very tall house with fur and eyes.	7 August 2014	4:33
12.	"Yellow Light"	The lyric video features beasts walking through a windy landscape at sunset, carrying other creatures on their back.	8 August 2014	4:47
13.	"Numb Bears"	The lyric video features an Anteater-like animal walking through what seems to be tall grass but at the end is revealed to be the fur on the back of an enormous Bull-like creature.	9 August 2014	2:42
14.	"Sinking Man"	The lyric video features Jellyfish swimming away from the camera as it sinks.	29 August 2014	2:45

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2012–13) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[27] 1 Austrian Albums Chart[28] 17 Belgium Albums Chart (Flanders)[29] 14 Belgium Albums Chart (Wallonia)[30] 45 Canadian Albums Chart[31] 4 Danish Albums Chart[32] 36 Dutch Albums Chart[33] 5 French Albums Chart[34] 55 German Albums Chart[35] 4 Icelandic Albums Chart 1 Irish Albums Chart[36] 1 Italian Albums Chart[37] 44 New Zealand Albums Chart[38] 4 Norwegian Albums Chart[39] 23 Spanish Albums Chart[40] 30 Swedish Albums Chart[41] 43 Swiss Albums Chart[42] 29 UK Albums Chart[43] 3 US Billboard 200[44] 6 US Alternative Albums[44] 1 US Rock Albums[44] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position Australian Albums Chart[45] 55 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[46] 57 Dutch Albums Chart[47] 72 US Billboard 200 56 US Billboard Rock Albums 12 US Billboard Alternative Albums 10 Chart (2013) Position Australian Albums Chart[48] 18 New Zealand Albums Chart[49] 19 US Billboard 200 48 US Billboard Rock Albums 9 US Billboard Alternative Albums 6 Chart (2014) Position US Billboard Rock Albums[50] 54 US Billboard Alternative Albums[51] 41 Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[52] 89 US Billboard 200[53] 167 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[54] 2× Platinum 140,000^^ Canada (Music Canada)[55] 2× Platinum 160,000^^ Germany (BVMI)[56] Platinum 200,000^^ Ireland (IRMA)[57] Gold 7,500^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[58] Gold 270,347[59] United States (RIAA)[60] Platinum 1,093,000[21] ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

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