Tune in on Wednesday, October 8th at 4pm to hear Excuse My French speak with Örvar Smárason of long standing Icelandic band, múm, before the group plays The Independent in SF later that same evening.
Formed by Gunnar Örn Tynes, Örvar Smárason, and classically trained twin sisters Gyda and Kristín Anna Valtysdóttir in 1997, múm soon became electronic key-figures. They have released on Morr Music & Fat Cat Records & are one of Iceland’s most important pop outfits. The band’s lineup is in a state of constant change. So is their music.
New album on Morr Music, History of Silence, is the first full body of work by the Icelandic collective since 2013’s Smilewound and their seventh studio album to date—recorded, deconstructed, put back together again, refined and finished over the course of two years. Vibrantly oscillating around a carefully curated palette of electronic and analogue sounds, the eight new tracks reflect the group’s continuous strive to explore sonic spaces through subtle yet gripping songwriting.
Contrary to what the album title suggests, History of Silence is a collection of bold and colorful songs, no matter how muted they might sound at times. They tickle like a feather drifting through the wind, ending up in unexpected places, stimulating long-forgotten thoughts and feelings, intimate moments of introspection. The songs move through the echoes those moments leave behind: the emotional traces of things unsaid, the weight of stillness. Offering closeness by means of distance and much-needed support.
