Of Monsters And Men - FEVER DREAM (Album Review)

Four years on from their bright sophomore release and Of Monsters And Men continue their regression into monotonous, melodic indie pop.

Focusing on repetitive drum rhythms and synthetic crutches that can't carry the faux-weight of negative lyrics and uninteresting melodies, this band finds itself exploring a new direction. It's called boring. Honestly upon hearing the lead single "Alligator" I expected a competent, solid but altogether safe album. I did not expect an over produced, pop-ballad heavy and trend-reliant flop that offers almost nothing of the substance or flare that gave so much character to the band's earlier work. This is an album I cannot get behind.

Stripping away the context of this particular band and album, an artist "going pop" is not something I have any distaste or biased pretensions for, and there are many examples of this move being both commercial and interesting, just look at Bring Me The Horizon's recent output or every subsequent Two Door Cinema Club album. These are acts that have made the transition into poppier sounds without sacrificing (at least the majority of the time), the quality and integrity of the music. In fact, in the examples I've given I would go as far as to claim it resulted in a progression and improvement for their music. These are times when the music has developed and changed but stayed enjoyable and engaging as it should. These are times that "going pop" has been a necessary and successful endeavor, not a negative sellout move that compromises the music itself.

Now, what Of Monsters And Men do is not necessarily that drastic on surface level, they still trade off vocals between their two singers and compliment one another with backing (although their male singer gets notably more time here than previously, but I don't think this is a bad decision). In addition, they still craft primarily midtempo songs that make up an album that is sonically consistent and features several prominent ballads. The first major difference I notice is in the writing, which has always tended to be vague and at times nonsensical, contrasting with the grounded emotive themes that keep the band from straying into whimsical or overdramatisiced themes. However on FEVER DREAM, the writing is much more grounded, only opting for larger concepts in concise metaphors and short lived and unexplained references to very typical lyrical concepts that I know the band is usually above. I don't mind that the lyrics are simpler and the scale is smaller, I mind when the lyrics fall into the realm of predictable and at times even dumb.

I think the faults of the album show themself more prominently in the stylings and themes, the intentions of the album. From the title, album cover and lead single it builds up a chaotic and bombastic feeling, framing this album as a turbulent FEVER DREAM, a venture into unrest and confusion. The execution of the rest of the album does not match this whatsoever. Literally from the second track, the dismally underweight "Ahay", you are introduced to the true nature of their new sound. Shiny, pointless, moody alt pop that favors swirling synthesizers and drum loops to organic instrumentation, a fact that could have worked if it didn't so immediately deviate from all that was set up previously. It just devolves into a pointless and dreary, drawn out collection of all-too similar songs that opt for straightforward but underwhelming accounts of broken relationships, songs that fail to capture the uncertainty or chaos of that first song. There's nothing wrong with a little thematic inconsistency but the band continuously try to tie it back but all too often lack the conviction or willingness to stray from the formula of "Ahay" and "Róróró". They all fit a very typical mold in a way that offends a fan like me. This used to be a band to set and reform trends, not one that pandered to them.

There is the odd highlight, such as the fun chorus on "Wars" or the genuine tension on album closer "Soothsayer", but overall they just miss the mark so many more times, delivering songs that lack any purpose other than filling space on a stretched out, unfinished sounding album. The band might have taken four years to get here, but they should have waited longer with most of these songs. They don't explore, they don't engage and for the most part they don't entertain. I can't quite call it bad, but I struggle to find anything really that good about it. FEVER DREAM by Of Monsters And Men gets a strong 4 out of 10 from me.

Best Songs:
Alligator; Vulture, Vulture; Wars; Soothsayer

Worst Songs:
Ahay; Waiting For The Snow; Under A Dome

"FEVER DREAM"

Of Monsters And Men

26/07/2019