Icelandic pop experimentalists Múm release Smilewound this month, a title that hints at the conflicting joy and pain and the resulting tension between these two extreme emotions. Unlike many previous releases Smilewound is audibly sparser but still contains those striking melodies that have given them their unique sound. Soothing female vocals act as a strange soothing counterbalance to the violence that feature in one form or another in most of the songs. The album offers an array of musical colour from synth-pop to simple piano-lines.
Recorded in, among other places, the band’s practice-space, an old baltic farmhouse and on the kitchen-table after dinner, the album was produced by múm themselves. And being the revolving collective they are, it comes as no surprise that we see the return of former member Gyda. Defining satellites as part of the core fits nicely with the band’s penchant for ambivalence – in fact that’s part of the album’s charm.
Múm are touring the album from September on which Sin Fang accompanies them as a special guest for most dates (details below). They will be taking in some top festivals including Incubate, Iceland Airwaves Festival and culminating in ATP in Novmeber.
Track Samples
Underwater Snow
[audio:http://api.morrmusic.com/snippet/320766c7-281a-43d8-a251-90fb69bb205a.mp3|titles=Underwater Snow|artists=Múm]
Slow Down
[audio:http://api.morrmusic.com/snippet/3fe69092-5ca1-4ef0-a048-a9375d68eee6.mp3|titles=Slow Down|artists=Múm]
Eternity Is The Wait Between Breaths
[audio:http://api.morrmusic.com/snippet/21f62070-661a-4004-a434-008b2c650686.mp3|titles=Eternity Is The Wait Between Breaths|artists=Múm]
Tracklisting
1. Toothwheels
2. Underwater Snow
3. When Girls Collide
4. Slow Down
5. Candlestick
6. One Smile
7. Eternity Is The Wait Between Breaths
8. The Colorful Stabwound
9. Sweet Impressions
10. Time To Scream And Shout
11. Whistle (With Kylie) 1. Toothwheels
2. Underwater Snow
3. When Girls Collide
4. Slow Down
5. Candlestick
6. One Smile
7. Eternity Is The Wait Between Breaths
8. The Colorful Stabwound
9. Sweet Impressions
10. Time To Scream And Shout
11. Whistle (With Kylie)
Tour Dates
2013-09-19 Tilburg (NL)
Incubate Festival
2013-09-20 Utrecht (NL)
De Helling
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-09-21 Brussels (BE)
Amerikaans Theater
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-09-23 Cologne (DE)
Gebaeude 9
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-09-24 Frankfurt a.M. (DE)
Zoom
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-09-25 Munich (DE)
Ampere
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-09-26 Leipzig (DE)
UT Connewitz
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-09-27 Berlin (DE)
Heimathafen Neukoelln
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-09-28 Hamburg (DE)
Reeperbahnfestival
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-10-01 Poznan (PL)
CK Zamek
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-10-02 Warszawa (PL)
Basen
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-10-03 Wroclaw (PL)
Alibi
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-10-04 Prague (CZ)
Meetfactory
(special guest:Sin Fang)
2013-10-05 Vienna (AT)
Waves Festival
(@ Flex)
2013-11-01 Reykjavik (IS)
Iceland Airwaves Festival
2013-11-08 London (GB)
Roundhouse
(@ JaJaJa Nordic Festival))
2013-11-18 Bristol (GB)
Fiddlers
2013-11-19 Dublin (IE)
Button Factory
Photo Credit: Baldur Kristjánsson