2025 marked the 10th anniversary of Icelandic indie folk band Of Monster and Men’s sophomore album, Beneath The Skin. Now, they’re releasing a special anniversary edition of the record on colorful 2LP vinyl with remastered sound and a reimagined cover.
The new cover, designed by the band, features the original’s logo over a shiny new background. The original cover, designed by artistic director Leif Podhajsky, was nominated for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package at the 58th Grammy Awards.
Beneath The Skin debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 61,000 copies in its first week and becoming the band’s highest-charting U.S. album. The album spawned five singles, with three of them—”Crystals,” “Empire,” and “Wolves Without Teeth”—receiving music videos. The record’s title comes from a lyric in “Human:” “Plants awoke and they slowly grow beneath the skin.” As part of the vinyl release, 100% of Of Monsters and Men artist’s proceeds will be donated to War Child until June 8, 2027. Proceeds will be distributed by December 31, 2027.
Following the success of their debut album, My Head Is an Animal, the band sought to produce a more intimate follow-up record. “For the first album, being from Iceland, you could feel in the lyrics that we wanted to go out and explore,” singer Ragnar Þórhallsson shared with Billboard. “Because we’ve toured for two years, I think you can hear in this album that we’re going more inwards. We’re writing more about us instead of what’s out there. It’s much more personal.”
Touring also fostered a deeper connection between the members. Þórhallsson continued, “Last time around, [the band members] were really good friends but getting to know each other — now we really know each other very well. For us to open up to each other and talk about things that are personal was definitely hard, but I think it also makes us write better lyrics if we’re honest.”
