Two years after the release of their last album, Iceland’s eccentric pop maestros múm return with their fifth album proper, entitled Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know, which will be released in Europe via Morr Music and in North America via the band’s own Euphono Records.

Sing Along is more laid-back than múm’s most recent outings, more relaxed and quietly sad, often recalling sand running through fingers or ripples on a lake. And to an even greater extent than there previous albums, Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know is an ode to the light in it’s different shapes, from a fading bulb to the blinding sun.

Sometimes the music sounds naively utopian, but always manages to stay effortless and pure. As usual, the songs are brimming with unusual sounds, this time including a lightly prepared piano, hammered dulcimer, a string quartet, marimbas, guitars, ukuleles – and in the background of a few tracks, Örvar’s parent’s parakeet singing with the piano.

The album was recorded in countless different places in four different countries, although most of it was done in múm’s native Iceland. Gunnar Örn Tynes moved to a cabin in the countryside where much of the album sprang to life, but as always, múm have a hard time staying put and also recorded in both Estonia and Finland. In Estonia, the group borrowed a beautiful, centuries-old house in Leigo, surrounded by the regions hundreds of lakes, where they wrote new songs and recorded with the Estonian Suisapäisa mixed choir

Much of Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know was written in light of Iceland’s recent political turmoil and uprising. The Icelandic government was forced to resign after intermittent civil unrest and the constant banging of pots and pans. The album’s serene idealism is, in part, a reaction to the turbulent political situation surrounding its composition.

The band or group or collective or whatever people want to call it consists on this album of Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason, Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson (trumpet / piano/ keyboards/ string arrangements), Hildur Guðnadóttir (cello/vocals), Sigurlaug Gísladóttir (Vocals/ ukulele/ various), Róbert Reynisson (guitars/ukuleles), Guðbjörg Hlín Guðmundsdóttir (violin) and Finlander Samuli Kosminen (drums / percussion). Högni Egilsson, also joins in a few songs, sharing songwriting duties on one song and choir arrangements for two others.

Múm will embark on a worldwide tour to herald the release of Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know, with North American shows starting October 23 in Somerville, MA.

Track listing
1. If I Were A Fish
2. Sing Along
3. Prophecies And Reversed Memories
4. A River Don’t Stop To Breathe
5. The Smell Of Today Is Sweet Like Breastmilk In The Wind
6. Show Me
7. Húllabbalabbalúú
8. Blow Your Nose
9. Kay-ray-kú-kú-kó-kex
10. The Last Shapes Of Never
11. Illuminated
12. Ladies Of The New Century