Of Monsters And Men
Location: O2 Academy
Of Monsters And Men return to the road in 2026, in support of their first full-length album in six years, All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade. Coming to Glasgow’s O2 Academy on 14th February 2026.
All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade. That may sound a little strange, but the title and beating heart of Icelandic indie-folk collective Of Monsters and Men’s fourth album hits a lot closer to home than you’d expect.
A tapestry of stories, moments, and conversations, the album explores how love and pain intertwine. Feelings that might seem at odds with each other, but co-exist simultaneously and need one another.
“In some ways it’s an album about growing up, but in other ways it’s also about returning home by making peace with the past,” Ragnar adds. In the six years since the band’s last LP, Fever Dream, the Icelandic indie sensation has had time to take stock. Touring until the pandemic put things on ice, the quintet released an EP and a documentary before embarking on some solo projects — including having a few kids. It made for a much-needed breather from the treadmill they’d been on since the massive Little Talks blew up back in 2011.
The chemistry of the band
That pure and primal band chemistry laid the foundation for All Is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade, under a spirit of openness and allowing the songs to find their own way once they’d captured the essence. “We set out to make something that felt hopeful while the world seems to continually spiral into more chaos“ Nanna continues. “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”
The back-to-basics vibe, the organic approach: it all got the band to thinking about how we coexist and connect. Running throughout the record are a series of “conversations stretched across time” that mull over loneliness, relationships and tracing a line between the past and the present. Self-produced by the band with help on a couple of tracks from Josh Kaufman [The National, Bob Weird, Bonny Light Horseman] and Bjarni Þór Jensson, long time friend, engineer and collaborator, the album drips with that hygge warm hug feeling.
“The world actually is ending and we just carry on living anyway,” they say of closing track ‘The End’. Amen. It’s another epic yet intimate affair from a band entering a new chapter while celebrating where they came from – still at heart those same friends that penned the colossal ‘Little Talks’ that would go on to score hundreds of millions of streams.
Appreciating your emotions in the moment
“We’ve had all the emotions when it comes to that period. Sometimes you want to fight against it, but now we’re just really appreciative that we had that moment,” says Nanna of their early whirlwind – one they’ve maintained with critical acclaim and new generations of fans across their soon to be four albums.
“There’s a core of people who grew up on us and have a deep connection to our music,” ends Ragnar. “We’ve been following each other, throughout life. It’s beautiful to see people who feel like they’ve been missing an old friend. That’s also how I feel when I haven’t released a song for a while.”
Fans of the Icelandic indie favourites can rejoice, with Of Monsters And Men announcing a return to the UK with a 2026 tour, including dates at Manchester’s Albert Hall, Bristol Beacon, Glasgow Academy, and London’s Roundhouse.
