Active since 2010, the Icelandic indie folk and folk pop/rock band Of Monsters And Men released their newest album in October of 2025 after a six year break. Titled All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade, the album is anchored in Icelandic heritage of the band, its storytelling exploring loneliness, heartbreak and collective experiences of the group amidst the chaos of the world.
Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, the lead singer and multi-instrumentalist of the band, spoke of the album upon its release and the reveal of a tour: “We set out to make something that felt hopeful while the world seems to continually spiral into more chaos… Iceland plays a huge role in this album and has always been an anchor for us. Making this album allowed us to completely get lost in our own world and get back to the core feeling of being a band and making music together. Creatively it reminded us of the times when we had just started the band but of course circumstances being a bit different now with growing families and life pulling us in different directions… We wanted this album to feel like a band coming together to play — to lean into the band’s chemistry and embrace the chaos that comes along with that.”
The band went on to promote the album with a tour across the globe, including a recent stop in Manchester’s Albert Hall on February 15th of 2026. The once-a-church-space turned live music venue provided the band with a gorgeous visual atmosphere and amazing acoustics around the hall, bouncing and echoing dynamically. Stained glass windows, carved ceilings and organs hanging above the main stage with bunting hanging down on either down looked incredible under the colourful lightshow. The slightly chipped paint of the walls and old wooden features of the building complimented the folkloric sounds of the gig, enhancing the rustic feel so reminiscent of OMAM’s sonic vision.
The sound of the venue itself was enriched by its churchly architecture but the sound technicians of Albert Hall went above and beyond to make sure the audibility is just as detailed as it is dynamic, reverberating even to the furthest back of the room. Nanna’s vocals are naturally quite soft in live performance, yet during one of the set’s songs when the band gathered to sing in a choir, her silky voice resounded through the room.
Not a single element was lost to the volume and the instrumentals were phenomenal, from the drummer’s (Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson) marching band-like rhythms to the unique use of a melodica and accordion in swaying melodies. Besides, the use of such free reed instruments really does anchor OMAM in their culturally-influenced work.
The band’s performance was pleasant, conscious of how to warm up the crowd, sometimes keeping us on edge with quiet, compelling pieces. The show offers a good balance of high and low energy throughout the night, rarely falling into monotony. The conclusion of the show was met with an ascension from the song Love Love Love slowly building up to the energetic grandeur of Fruit Bat.
The band members have great chemistry between themselves but also with the crowd. Post-performance of their song Humans, the band’s vocalist and guitarist, Ragnar Þórhallsson had a laugh about singing the wrong lyrics of the chorus and just before proceeding with the song Crystals, Nanna read a sign from the crowd about someone’s tattoo dedicated to the song, addressing the piece to them. Nanna herself seems to be very in tune with the music, wonderfully gesturing and weaving her hands in the air as the melodies carry her through the performance – it was a very heartwarming detail to see from her.
All in all and entirely personally, I found their live sound to be much richer than their studio recordings with a certain subtlety in folk music that their performances bring out even more than recordings. Similarly, I would’ve loved to hear more from the band themselves in terms of the storytelling. The All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade album greatly focuses on stories taken out of life, bringing introspection and intimacy into their work, so had they spoken a little more in between the songs to enrich our emotional connection and comprehension of their music would’ve been a great detail, but that’s just one little idea I usually enjoy from performers.
As a teenager in high school, OMAM used to often accompany me, and the setlist was most definitely well put together, my own other grievance is that I didn’t get to hear my favourite piece – Your Bones from their debut album, My Head Is An Animal.
Aside from my personal convictions, OMAM is most definitely a wonderful band to experience live. They can be as grand as they can be soft, and their music is catchy enough to entice anyone to sing along even if the words or melodies aren’t familiar, which is a huge bonus if you want to experience new bands live but feel awkward about not knowing lyrics and being doomed to stand still. I can vouch for the fact that OMAM is not such a case. Once you step into that environment, you can easily be swept away by the lull of their folkloric and reflective balladry.
Forever grateful and happy to have attended this gig, I now encourage anyone reading this to attend their later events across the UK and Europe. You can find the rest of their tour dates using this link: Of Monsters And Men | Official Site, and make sure to book tickets in a city closest to you before they sell out!
Again a huge thank you to Of Monsters and Men for that wonderful night at the Albert Hall, and an equally huge thank you to the team of technicians behind the scenes that put this performance together. Infecting with the band’s love for music, it was a thrilling night to have attended.
Gig photos acquired from the official OMAM Instagram account where you can also follow them to keep up to date with their work and future releases and performances: Of Monsters And Men | Instagram.
Article by Rozalia Lewandowska
