MÚM
Fiddlers, Bristol | 18th November
There may well be some truth in the theory that the further north you go the cuter the music gets. While there’s the obvious exceptions like Mayhem, who weren’t really that cute, not least when they were burning down churches and killing each other to death. Tonight though we’re not out for black metal, we’re out to see perhaps the sweetest Icelandic band of them all, múm, who incidentally have never burned down any churches. Within seconds of the mesmerically beautiful Hildur Guðnadóttir stepping onto the stage at Bristol’s Fiddler’s, the audience are captivated. She exudes a naivety and sincerity about the music she creates rarely seen in the current climate of hyper ironic negativity and cold hipster posturing.
The band’s soundcheck, they admit, has been marred by technical issues, but they waste no time in launching into a beautiful rendition of Green Grass of Tunnel, a building, hypnotic meditation that exemplifies why the band work so well together. There is an overwhelming sense of a unit here, each member as charismatic and involved as the other. When the song reaches its climactic peak the crowd, clearly stunned, leave a five second silence before bursting into frenzied applause.
New song Slow Down is, ironically, an altogether bouncier affair. Although it sounds pleasant tonight it’s fair to say múm are a band who work best at slower tempos and the lyrics, including the incessantly repeated refrain of “I’m in love with you”, come over a little cheesy at best. The charming A Little Bit, Sometimes on the other hand – easily one of the band’s best songs – puts them firmly back on track with its haunting melody and singable chorus. The two front women harmonise perfectly and drummer Samuli Kosminen ties down the whole affair with his steadily growing repetitious beats.
As the evening draws to a close The Colourful Stabwound is a welcome example of how múm can craft perfect pop tunes that swell and hypnotise as much as any of their more experimental work. The breakbeats and whispering, high pitched vocals that form the basis for the earlier movements of the song are complimented by one of the catchiest bass lines ever committed to tape, before, in typically múm fashion, the song builds to its evocative crescendo. Even Hildur’s interpretative minimal dance routine can’t kill the buzz.
Like many of their Icelandic contemporaries múm utilise childlike naivety to create sincere melodies that tug at the heartstrings, and their passion is evidenced by the looks on their faces as they play to a half full room on a Monday night in Bristol. Before they leave the stage we are treated to the honest epithet “Thank you for being so warm on such a cold night.” and for some reason, even though we’ve been fed variations on the theme countless times, for some reason it’s just easier to believe coming from the mouth of an extremely cute Icelander.
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Words: Billy Black
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