You can get off to a fast start. You can sustain your opener with the main course, not filler. But can you end on a high note? Sometimes I wonder if recording a strong closer is the most difficult thing to pull off when it comes to album rock. When it comes to the cream of the crop in music, I can think of more strong openers than strong closers. Nonetheless, I still have my favorites which I’ll be featuring on Mental Jukebox all month.
Of Monsters And Men occupy that beautiful space where nature and adventure collide with human emotions. It’s a rather unique style of music for unique moments. The debut album gave us a taste of this. But it’s second, lesser known album Beneath The Skin is where this formula came to full fruition. There was a time when my own lack of adventure as a busy adman / dad caused me to seek out this record over and over again for solace. I listened to it incessantly when it was first released, and right away the songs seemed to bleed into each other, rounding out the experience with “We Sink”.
The dual vocals from Nanna and Raggi are one of the most distinct qualities of the band, giving Of Monsters And Men’s music a campfire song aura that draws you in. On “We sink” they sing through the verses and chorus in resolute unison before the driving drumbeat and glistening keys lead us into the bridge. One of the easy characteristics to overlook on “We Sink” are the lyrics. The band’s flair for a good metaphor serves them well here.
“We are the sleepers. We bite our tongues. We set the fire. And we let it burn.”