Icelandic indie-folkers Of Monsters and Men are back and as anthemic as ever with the first single from the follow-up to their 2011 debut album, My Head Is an Animal. Listen to “Crystals,” released on Monday afternoon (Mar. 16), via the band’s new lyric video for the track, which precedes their new album, Beneath The Skin:
“Cover your crystal eyes/And let your colors and blend with mine,” the group chants in the chorus of the song, which works on the same epic scale that made songs like “Mountain Sound” and “Little Talks” deliriously fun sing-alongs at music festivals. Brimming with metaphors and marked by an inescapable feeling of hope, “Crystals” successfully reintroduces Of Monsters and Men as a rock act aiming for arenas.
Released in September 2011, My Head Is an Animal has sold 1.1 million copies to date, according to Nielsen Music. Its follow-up, Beneath The Skin, is due out June 9 through Republic Records; the band worked with co-producer Rich Costey in Iceland and Los Angeles on the new set.
Of Monsters and Men will be previewing the new tunes on a world tour that kicks off on May 4 in Toronto. The band will also make appearances at festivals like Sasquatch, Southside and Fuji Rock.
Check out the track list for Of Monsters and Men’s Beneath The Skin:
1. Crystals
2. Human
3. Hunger
4. Wolves Without Teeth
5. Empire
6. Slow Life
7. Organs
8. Black Water
9. Thousand Eyes
10. I Of The Storm
11. We Sink
Deluxe Edition:
12. Backyard
13. Winter Sound
14. Black Water (Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear Remix)
15. I Of The Storm (Alex Somers Remix)