170: múm - Mild At Heart
I have a memory seared into my brain. I was on a trip to Iceland Airwaves, and had travelled from Reykjavik to Akureyri for a couple of days away from the capital city. I'd spent the day on a coach trip, bathing in thermal springs, eating food roasted in fire pits buried in the earth, watching that strange and fascinating landscape evolve. I'd seen the Northern Lights for the first time the night before, just a hint of a smudge of green above the town centre, and I'd never felt further from home.
Sitting in a coach on the way back to Akureyri from the wild countryside, the weather had shifted and clouds gathered in sizes that seemed incomprehensible. Coming over the ridge the whole sky seemed to have turned upside down, dark clouds gathered above while the sunset burst from below, glowing bright orange rays shone upwards into the sky. It felt unfathomable, like I'd woken up within a dream. Iceland can do that to you.
In that moment, I was listening múm, the Iceland band who have been making enchanting and adventurous music since 1999. I couldn't have asked for a more fitting soundtrack, so much of the band's work has felt like the world we think we know spun on its head. Their first two albums 'Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK' and its astonishing follow-up 'Finally We Are No One' defined them from the outset, a gorgeous blend of folk intricacies and stormy post-rock told with a singular gaze.
Wonderful news then that today, the Icelandic collective have announced History of Silence, a brand new album and their first full-length effort since 2013's Smilewound LP. Their seventh studio album, History of Silence is released September 19th via Morr Music.
Initially worked on at Sudestudio in southern Italy, further recordings took place in Reykjavík, Berlin, Athens, Helsinki, New York, and Prague. Strings were recorded by Sinfonia Nord at the Hof concert hall in Akureyri, and they were arranged and conducted by frequent collaborator Ingi Garðar Erlendsson.
Alongside the album news, múm are also sharing the album's first single 'Mild at Heart', a beautiful introduction to their new chapter. As with so much of the music they've created over the years, the song feels patient and intriguing, the instrumental backdrop always drifting into unexpected sequences while the gorgeous vocals act as the centre-point that just about holds the whole piece together.
Imbued with a kind of intangible magic that shimmers within those deep Icelandic skies, it's a wonderful piece of music; a timely return in a noisy world.
Find more info & pre-order the new album here
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three / six / five is a daily music-sharing project from gold flake paint; read more about the idea here
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