The Icelandic ensemble múm revisit their expertise in fragile storytelling on their latest release, "Only Songbirds Have a Sweet Tooth," proving that their touch is still as enchanting as ever. The second single from their upcoming album, "History of Silence," due by September 19 on Morr Music, softly dances between the organic and synthetic, exploring an aural space where longing and hi-fi futurism lock into an embrace with beguiling unpredictability.
Constructed like a soft mosaic, "Only Songbirds Have a Sweet Tooth" skips light-footedly across digital artifacts and warm, organic textures. It's a song that demands close attention, offering up more with each spin. The exchange of male and female vocals feels like a musical conversation shared between two ghosts of different sexes who meet on the street. Light and often buoyant one minute, and touchingly grave the next, their voices hover over bubbling electronics and folky fragments that suggest wind chimes, forest paths, and lullabies half-remembered. It's a sweet tension, the way the song tiptoes between the digital and the deeply human, never quite settling into one space.
As whimsical as its title suggests, the song envisions pure-hearted moments of discovery without sacrificing any emotional heft. It feels as if it were not made in the studio, but dreamed into existence in a meadow where hidden circuits are wired to the flora. It's comforting and mysterious, being both familiar and foreign at the same time. You can catch the band on the road when they embark on a brief North American tour starting in Philadelphia on September 16, followed by another appearance in New York on the same date, and a final date in Los Angeles on October 9, before heading back to Europe. If this track is any indication, "History of Silence" will linger, float, and reverberate long. In a world that is often hurried and harried, "Only Songbirds Have a Sweet Tooth" serves as a gentle reminder to pause, pay attention, and discover the poetry in the unconventional.
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