As far as music goes, there was very little I was looking forward to in 2025. But just when I felt despair for the lack of lyricism I would experience, Of Monsters and Men (OMAM) stepped out of the shadows to offer me a full-length album in the moment I most needed one. This is only the band’s fourth album, yet comes just about six years after their last. OMAM is undoubtedly most famous for their debut album, 2012’s My Head is an Animal, and hasn’t seen such worldwide success since. However, I wholeheartedly believe All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade deserves that acclaim.

The Album

All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade consists of 13 tracks spanning 53 minutes, which is impressive by today’s standards. It is increasingly common to see 10-song 30-40 minute albums that are often very good, albeit end abruptly. OMAM’s latest album feels perfectly long—not dragged out, but each song gets room to breathe.

The first single, Television Love, was released on July 1st, with the next, Ordinary Creature, coming out on August 7th. September 5th saw a double release of the singles Dream Team and The Towering Skyscraper at the End of the Road. Surprisingly, the week before the album came out, the band released a fifth and final single, Fruit Bat, on October 10th. The first two singles each had a music video accompanying them.

The Songs

Television Love

The first track of the album and the first single, Television Love has a lot to live up to. And I think it is a very good track that does so. The song features vocals primarily from Ragnar þórhallsson, though Nanna Hilmarsdóttir sings a part closer to the end of the track. The song is probably the only one I think is too long, coming in at 4:40. The song is one that is soft and melodic, supported well by Ragnar’s voice. While not the lead singer, he gets many parts in songs where his voice is very well utilized, and this is one of them. Nanna’s vocals are quiet and reserved in this song, and I don’t think that is where she shines as a vocalist. However the catchy yet calming backing from the rest of the band work to prop up both of their performances. The song itself was described as “‘a conversation between two people stretched across time,” which might not be apparent to listeners (like me), but the theme fits well. Overall, I wish I liked the song more, but many of the other tracks are so strong that it is a bit lower on my rankings. But if very good is on the lower end for tracks, that’s not a bad problem to have.

Score: A-

Dream Team

Dream Team has a very different vibe than the previous track. It plays into one of my favorite themes, which is sad songs with upbeat tunes. The chorus repeats “I don’t want to cry my eyes out” and deals with worry and other negative emotions. The band said “it instantly gave us this carefree, nostalgic feeling … the lyrics paint a different picture … feeling extremely happy and confident while also feeling this immense sadness and dread.” Both singers play parts of this track, continuing the reserved vocals that give the piano space to experiment. I have few thoughts on this song, not because I don’t like it, but because it’s just a nice track, plain and simple.

Score: B

The Actor

Nanna’s first song on the album where she sings most of the time, The Actor is a somber track that deals with feeling good enough. Is it enough that I’m playing my part? is the question asked by the band. And they don’t answer it, but they don’t have to. The song is potent and thought-provoking as is. The track teeters on the ethereal side of the album, adding to its mystique. “I admit I’m a bit frustrated, and I’m tired, and I lost the plot” the singers say, a line I think a lot of people can resonate with. Despite an otherworldly feel, and being on an album with a surreal name, The Actor is a grounded song which hits close to home.

Grade: A

Tuna in a Can

For a title sounding so unserious, the band was able to make yet another hard-hitting song with an uplifting melody. The song grapples with feelings of undeservedness and failure, especially in the context of family. Their admittance of not trying and saying “happy is the fool” makes for a song where there is no consolation for their perceived ineptitude, yet everything about the song makes me feel like it is still okay not to be everything you think you have to be. The lyrics are very powerful, but the song and lyrics are short-lived and could’ve thrived given more space to explore the themes. All this considered, the track is one of the best, and should’ve been closer to Television Love length (and vice versa).

Grade: A

Barefoot in Snow

The track which most heavily exemplifies the pain in the mouse parade, Barefoot in Snow explores the difficulty of achieving happiness and navigating that hardship. While the full album works well with its signature mellow singing, I believe the track could’ve really shone with more vocal range. Apart from that, the song has a great utilization of drums and guitar. The song is nothing standout in my opinion, but certainly not bad.

Grade: B-

Fruit Bat

Fruit Bat is the longest track on the album at 8:17, but like the best long songs, uses that length for good purposes. The song has the most ambiguous meaning of the album, in my opinion, and a lot of the lyrics can be up to interpretation. After about four and a half minutes, the song quiets down and finishes with a long instrumental period. The piano is especially bold in this track and makes for an ending I never want to skip over. Choosing a song with less definitive meaning to add a longer experimental instrumental to was the best option in my opinion.

Grade: A

Kamikaze

Halfway through the album, there are a lot of songs about bad things. And with a title like Kamikaze, you may think that trend will continue. But the track is more about the love than the pain in life. While there are a lot of unhappy lines about conversations and dialogue, the core theme of the song is acceptance and love from my viewpoint. While the band’s vocals remain much the same as the rest of the album, I appreciate the cadence of their singing in this song, which feels a bit choppy and yet still flows well, adding to the feeling of speaking being hard.

Grade: B-

The Towering Skyscraper at the End of the Road

I did not think I’d like this song as much as I did. After the Dream Team EP released, I still favored Ordinary Creatures over the rest of the singles. But after a while, I came around on its lyrics and sound. The sound is the most unique so far, favoring guitar along with drums and piano, instead of letting the guitar melt into the background. But the lyrics themselves are about growing up—the good and the bad—without obviously telling you such. According to the band, the track “is about growing up and growing apart, it’s a song that looks at the past with kind eyes.” And kind eyes are a glad occurrence in an album filled with crying eyes. My favorite line, which is one of my favorite lyrics off the album as a whole, is “There is nothin’ left, nothin’ cynical/The road is paved with good intention.” It’s acceptance and happiness of the progression of time despite its worse parts makes for a nice change of scenery versus the first half of the album.

Grade: A

Ordinary Creature

My favorite song on the album is Ordinary Creature. The fast, bright instrumental backing the vocals feels lively and refreshing. The deep, poetic vocals may be the same as the last eight songs, but something about the song is infectious. The lyrics reflect this, described as capturing “the feeling of yearning for that someone that brings you comfort … that moment when you start coming back to yourself again and remembering what it’s like to be an ordinary creature.” The song holds another stellar line off the album: “What’s your day without all your problems?” The questions the band asks allow for a more personal feeling and this song exemplifies that.

Grade: A+

Styrofoam Cathedral

Pondering the troubles and joys of modern life is a big topic to tackle, and Styrofoam Container does so by simply admitting “I am honestly flawed.” You don’t have to feel bad for your modern vices, they say, because everyone is flawed. Doing your best is the best you can do. The song also lends some of the nostalgic feeling from Dream Team which I appreciate. The song is good, and there’s little I can say bad about it, but there’s also just not much I can say about it.

Grade: B

The Block

The Block is a great song about the tribulations of trying to stay afloat amongst the issues of life, being a general exploration of wanting to show the best side of yourself. Despite it being very similar to many other tracks on the album, I think it is incredibly potent. The piano is especially poetic on this track and breaks up the repetition in the chorus (which I don’t think is bad), but the strings are the standout for me. For an album using mostly the same instruments, the strings during the instrumental break make for great variation. For one of the last songs on the album, it works well as a closer before the next two tracks which are much different in nature. It is worth noting I originally chastised the song for most of the things I said I liked about it, but now I believe it is a very strong track.

Grade: B+

Mouse Parade

In the final act of their album, OMAM made sure to include a song whose lyrics were just as ethereal as the music accompanying it. The song has a fluttering, carol-esque nature to it which makes for an incredibly unique experience. The song itself was envisaged before the album would carry the title, showing how important they found this track. I think it is less a song and more an experiment to see how far they could take the surreal ideas they had and make something tangible. For that reason, I respect it for its uniqueness and think a grade would take away from its purpose.

The End

The End is a song which I can’t help but like. Albums ending in a bittersweet instrumental track (like Linkin Park’s The Messenger) are some of my favorites. The song is about the end of… things. They say it’s alright in the end, but is it? This album takes a look at how feelings can be good and bad, how nothing truly lasts, and so you shouldn’t be caught up in the moment with worrying. It feels like a perfect conclusion to the album.

Grade: B

The Album (Continued)

The major issue I outlined in my review was the same-ness of all the tracks as pertains to the vocals performances. I like quiet albums, but if an album is nothing but quiet, it can detract from the power that style holds. I’m sure this was mostly a choice by the band due to their vision, but I can’t help but look at their previous album, FEVER DREAM, as one with bright, punchy vocals. The album is their least popular of the three before All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade, but their newest as well. There is good cause to say that the album’s worse performance led to their stylistic choices this time around. This is unfortunate, because I may prefer the band’s two previous albums, however FEVER DREAM still has incredible songs that really benefit from the louder sound.

On the other hand, I very much appreciate the somber sound of this album. In a time where it seems like noise is everywhere, the band invites you to take a break from everything. I, for one, will happily accept this invitation. After all, there’s always their next album to look towards for a louder sound. But for now I can find solace in the mellow melodies of All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade.

Album Grade: A