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Múm

  • Balloon 360° / SAT 15.8.

Icelandic band múm belongs among the artists who turned the post-Björk Icelandic wave into an international phenomenon. Alongside Sigur Rós, múm was one of its most recognisable names, but moved in a slightly different direction from the start. Instead of vast landscapes, múm built something smaller, stranger and closer to the ear. In their music, glitch, soft vocals, electronics, chamber-like textures and toy-like sounds arrange themselves into a world that still feels entirely their own.

Formed in 1997, múm quickly became one of the key names in early-2000s experimental pop with albums such as Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today Is OK, and Finally We Are No One. What made the band distinctive from the outset was that the electronics never felt cold, and the experimental side never felt theoretical. There is playfulness in the songs, as well as fragility and a strangely compelling warmth.

Over the years, múm has worked with collaborators including Kronos Quartet and has also composed for a Dutch chamber orchestra. In 2025, the band released its first studio album in twelve years. There is still the same quality in múm’s music that was there from the beginning. It does not try to fill every space, but leaves room for small sounds and side paths to begin living lives of their own.