Looking back at the state of my music taste before 2017, it’s clear to see that I did not listen to the most eclectic range of music. Back then I was very basically stuck to sounds that were very similar to each other and occasionally the odd song that my parents had recommended me. At this time my most listened to genre by far was folk music and my most listened to band under this genre was Of Monsters and Men.
I got introduced to OMAM in the way that pretty much everyone did, their hit song Little Talks seemed to be everywhere upon its release and then a few years later their song Crystals appeared in pretty much every advert on TV at the time. Their debut album My Head is an Animal quickly became one of my favourites (and still is) and whilst I may not love the follow-up album Beneath the Skin quite as much as their first project, I would still argue that it was a fantastic album. So when the band became very active on their social media midway through 2018 I became incredibly excited to see where the band would go next. Then in May 2019 they released their first single Alligator and I became even more intrigued.It was clear to see that the band were going in a completely direction with their sound this time around. This didn’t come as a great surprise as the band had teased this change in the lead up to it’s release and their sound had already evolved from their first to their second album so it was almost expected that this trend would continue. The new rock centric, guitar driven and electric sound of Alligator certainly caught my attention and the follow up single Wild Roses which was a lot softer in comparison, with a very Poppy and danceable feel to it, also made it clear that the Fever Dream was not going to sound anything like OMAM’s previous albums. Fever Dream is noticeably less acoustic and features a lot more distortion and vocal manipulation than both Beneath the Skin and My Head is an Animal. Furthermore the acoustic guitars, brass instruments and drum sets are often swapped out instead for electric guitars, synths and more electric drum pads. Because of this dramatic shift in direction, I would not be surprised if you showed this album to an OMAM fan and did not tell them it was by the band, that they wouldn’t be able to identify the album as being by the same group.
This “loss of identity” also carries through into the new lyrical direction that the two lead singers Nanna and Ragnar have taken. In previous songs, the two sang mostly together and the songs often told a self-contained story. However on Fever Dream, the two are often separated, with duets becoming a rarity, and the topics of each song are almost always completely from the perspective of one of the two.
Now, by this point it may seem like I have painted a rather bleak description of the new album and you would be forgive for thinking that I despise this album. But that could not be further from the truth. It is perhaps lucky for me that the bands that I consider my favourites (such as Gorillaz or Arctic Monkeys) are infamous for their drastically changing sounds and styles so I have become accepting of a band making major changes and in the case of OMAM and Fever Dream, I love a lot of these changes. For instance, although I do miss the synergy of Nanna and Ragnar’s voices, it has to be said that the decision to separate the two does work out a lot of the time. Now that they each get to write songs for themselves, without the need to worry about what the words may sound like coming out of the others mouth, there is a lot more room for songs that sound much more personal and important to the individual. Also, although he is talented on every project, I was always of the opinion that Nanna was a much stronger and entertaining singer compared to Ragnar but on Fever Dream, Ragnar has a lot more time to showcase his talent and because of his performance on the song Stuck In Gravity, the song immediately became my favourite from the first time I heard it. I cannot recall a previous OMAM song where he shines quite as brightly as he does on this track.
It must also be said that whilst I do once again miss the folky, earthy and acoustic sounds on prior OMAM projects, the new sound doesn’t disappoint me at all. Although it would’ve been nice to hear the return of some trumpets or a little more acoustic instrumentation, I have always been in love with synths and electric music. In fact the inclusion of auto-tune of some songs (while it may annoy some) felt very well utilised to me. Again the track Stuck In Gravity’s erupting final half’s explosion of synths and the way the vocals are distorted in a way that almost moulds the voices with the music is just beautiful. It is also nice to heard an OMAM album with some songs that feel a bit more bouncy and with a little bit more funk to it. Songs like Vulture,Vulture and War are incredibly upbeat and sound incredibly warm and full of texture.
So with all of this being said, do I think the transition from Indie Folk Rock to Electro/Synth Pop Rock has worked for Of Monsters and Men? In short, yes. Fever Dream is an incredibly solid album from start to finish, with only a few missteps along the way. It manages to be funky and upbeat whilst also managing to tug at the emotions just as the other two albums did before it. And while it may be a bit disheartening to see another Folk Group announce they’re going to “change their sound”, only to go the same direction as every other band and make a more Poppy album, OMAM do this in a much more successful way than what some of their contemporaries have done. For instance, Mumford and Son’s 2018 album Delta may have a similar shift in direction that Fever Dream does, it fails to retain a lot of the qualities that made the band memorable in the first place (in M&S’s case Marcus Mumford’s powerful vocals). For Of Monsters and Men however, the instrumentation is still as impressive and quality as usual and the vocals are as impactful and entertaining as they have always been, making for another amazing (albeit wildly different) album in the band’s discography.
Music Worth Hearing 