My Head Is an Animal

My Head Is an Animal
Studio album by Of Monsters and Men
Released	20 September 2011 (In Iceland)
Recorded	26–28 March 2011; 9–25 January 2012
Studio	Studio Syrland, Vatnagarðar, Reykjavík [1]
Genre	Indie folk indie pop indie rock
Length	59:38
Label	Record, Republic
Producer	Of Monsters and Men, Aron Arnarsson, Jacquire King
Of Monsters and Men chronology
My Head Is an Animal (2011) Live from Vatnagarðar (2013)
Icelandic release

Original Iceland release

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Dirty Paws"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson	4:26
2.	"King and Lionheart"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir	4:35
3.	"Numb Bears"	Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson	2:45
4.	"Sloom"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson	4:42
5.	"Little Talks"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson	4:24
6.	"From Finner"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson, Brynjar Leifsson	3:41
7.	"Six Weeks"	Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson	5:32
8.	"Love Love Love"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir	4:02
9.	"Your Bones"	Ragnar Þórhallsson	4:07
10.	"Lakehouse"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Brynjar Leifsson	5:42
11.	"Yellow Light" (ends at 4:52; hidden song "Sinking Man" starts at 13:04)	Ragnar Þórhallsson	15:45
Total length:			59:38

Universal Music Group re-issue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Dirty Paws"		4:38
2.	"King and Lionheart"		4:33
3.	"Mountain Sound"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson	3:35
4.	"Slow and Steady"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson, Hilmarsson, Árni Guðjónsson, Brynjar Leifsson, Kristján Páll Kristjánsson	5:01
5.	"From Finner"		3:43
6.	"Little Talks"		4:26
7.	"Six Weeks"		5:34
8.	"Love Love Love"		3:58
9.	"Your Bones"		4:09
10.	"Sloom"		4:43
11.	"Lakehouse"		4:35
12.	"Yellow Light"		4:52
Total length:			53:47

Universal Music Group re-issue; iTunes bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Numb Bears"	2:44
14.	"Little Talks" (music video)	4:11
Total length:		60:42

10th anniversary edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Dirty Paws"		4:38
2.	"King and Lionheart" (2011 Iceland release version)		4:44
3.	"Numb Bears" (2011 Iceland release version)		2:45
4.	"Sloom"		4:44
5.	"Little Talks"		4:26
6.	"From Finner"		3:42
7.	"Six Weeks"		5:32
8.	"Love Love Love"		3:57
9.	"Your Bones"		4:07
10.	"Lakehouse" (2011 Iceland release version)		5:56
11.	"Yellow Light"		4:53
12.	"Sinking Man" (2011 Iceland release version)	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson	2:49
13.	"Phantom"	Ragnar Þórhallsson, Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir	4:42
14.	"Sugar in a Bowl"	Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, Ragnar Þórhallsson	2:48
Total length:			59:50

Personnel

Of Monsters and Men Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson – drums, percussion Árni Guðjónsson – accordion, piano, organ Brynjar Leifsson – electric and baritone guitar Kristján Páll Kristjánsson – bass guitar Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir – vocals, acoustic guitar Ragnar Þórhallsson – vocals, acoustic guitar Additional musicians Ari Bragi Kárason – trumpet Ragnhildur Gunnarsdóttir – trumpet Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir – French horn

Production (Icelandic release) Of Monsters and Men – producer on all tracks Aron Arnarsson – producer, engineer, mixing on all tracks Styrmir Hauksson – mastering Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson – artwork, design Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir – artwork, design Ragnar Þórhallsson – artwork, design

Production (US release) Of Monsters and Men – producer on tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Aron Arnarsson – engineer, producer on tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 Jacquire King – producer on tracks 2, 3, 4, 11 Craig Silvey – mixing Greg Calbi – mastering Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson – artwork, design Ragnar Þórhallsson – artwork, design

Music and lyric videos

All music and lyric videos (except for the "Mountain Sound" music video, filmed live in Iceland) were produced and directed by Canadian production firm WeWereMonkeys. To create the video series, WeWereMonkeys drew inspiration from Nordic Mythology, suggestions from the band members and lyrics of the songs, to which they listened "over and over". They also travelled to Iceland, where they studied the landscape, in order to get ideas for the videos' settings. Several techniques were employed in the production, from live action to CGI, from stop-motion to digital painting. ^{[23] [24]} The videos were praised, with the "Little Talks" music video receiving a nomination in the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards for "Best Art Direction in a Video". ^{[25] [26]}

Music videos

No.	Title	Music	Date of release	Length
1.	"Little Talks"	The male members of the band portray a group of sky-sailors, who are joined by a female creature, played by Nanna, and together they travel across an Iceland-inspired fantastical landscape, facing difficulties and mythical creatures, before reaching their destination.	2 February 2012	4:14
2.	"Mountain Sound"	The official music video was filmed on 7 July 2012 and features the band performing live in Reykjavík.	14 September 2012	4:00
3.	"King and Lionheart"	The video follows the story of two royal siblings in a war-torn kingdom. After having been captured and separated by the invaders, they are rescued by two animal-like spirits, and try to reach out to each other. The video ends in a cliffhanger, with their sorts remaining unknown.	12 April 2012	4:26

Lyric videos

No.	Title	Lyrics	Date of release	Length
1.	"Dirty Paws"	The lyric video features a black-furred beast carrying a flag through a blizzard while mythical birds fly overhead.	29 July 2014	4:34
2.	"King and Lionheart"	The lyric video features the same setting of the official music video. The capital city of a prosperous kingdom being observed from a distance by the future invaders. While the song plays a heavy rain starts to fall on the city.	29 July 2014	4:29
3.	"Mountain Sound"	The lyric video features horses galloping through a rocky landscape covered with snow.	30 July 2014	3:31
4.	"Slow and Steady"	The lyric video features a bird flying over a snowy landscape.	31 July 2014	4:58
5.	"From Finner"	The lyric video features a huge sea monster carrying a village on its back.	31 July 2014	3:43
6.	"Little Talks"	The lyric video features the same scenery of the music video, with the same airship carrying the six band members.	2 August 2014	4:22
7.	"Six Weeks"	The lyric video features a forest on a winter night with a giant occasionally walking past.	3 August 2014	5:31
8.	"Love Love Love"	The lyric video features a Minotaur on a boat, staring at the water, during a rainstorm while a sea dragon, beneath the surface, stares at him.	4 August 2014	3:55
9.	"Your Bones"	The lyric video features a boat made out of bones sailing away into the sunset and eventually bursting into flames.	5 August 2014	4:07
10.	"Sloom"	The lyric video features a swamp with various creatures occasionally breaking the surface.	29 August 2014	4:41
11.	"Lakehouse"	The lyric video features a very tall house with fur and eyes.	7 August 2014	4:33
12.	"Yellow Light"	The lyric video features beasts walking through a windy landscape at sunset, carrying other creatures on their back.	8 August 2014	4:47
13.	"Numb Bears"	The lyric video features an Anteater-like animal walking through what seems to be tall grass but at the end is revealed to be the fur on the back of an enormous Bull-like creature.	9 August 2014	2:42
14.	"Sinking Man"	The lyric video features Jellyfish swimming away from the camera as it sinks.	29 August 2014	2:45

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for My Head Is an Animal Chart (2011–2013) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [27] 1 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [28] 17 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [29] 14 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [30] 45 Canadian Albums (Billboard) [31] 4 Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [32] 36 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [33] 5 French Albums (SNEP) [34] 55 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [35] 4 Icelandic Albums (Tonlist) [36] 1 Irish Albums (IRMA) [37] 1 Italian Albums (FIMI) [38] 44 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [39] 4 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [40] 23 Scottish Albums (OCC) [41] 4 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [42] 30 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [43] 43 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [44] 29 UK Albums (OCC) [45] 3 US Billboard 200 [46] 6 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [47] 1 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [48] 1

Year-end charts 2012 year-end chart performance for My Head Is an Animal Chart (2012) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) [49] 55 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [50] 57 Canadian Albums (Billboard) [51] 32 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [52] 72 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [53] 44 UK Albums (OCC) [54] 88 US Billboard 200 [55] 56 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [56] 12 2013 year-end chart performance for My Head Is an Animal Chart (2013) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) [57] 18 Canadian Albums (Billboard) [58] 48 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [59] 19 UK Albums (OCC) [60] 91 US Billboard 200 [61] 48 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [62] 9 2014 year-end chart performance for My Head Is an Animal Chart (2014) Position US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [63] 54 2016 year-end chart performance for My Head Is an Animal Chart (2016) Position Icelandic Albums (Plötutíóindi) [64] 76 2018 year-end chart performance for My Head Is an Animal Chart (2018) Position Icelandic Albums (Plötutíóindi) [65] 90 Decade-end charts Decade-end chart performance for My Head Is an Animal Chart (2010–2019) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) [66] 89 US Billboard 200 [67] 167

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for My Head Is an Animal

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [68]	2× Platinum	140,000^
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil) [69]	Platinum	40,000‡
Canada (Music Canada) [70]	2× Platinum	160,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [71]	Gold	10,000‡
Germany (BVMI) [72]	Platinum	200,000‡
Iceland	—	27,000 [73]
Ireland (IRMA) [74]	Gold	7,500^
Italy (FIMI) [75]	Gold	25,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ) [76]	Platinum	15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [77]	Platinum	270,347 [78]
United States (RIAA) [79]	2× Platinum	2,000,000 [21]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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