The History of Silence is rather ironic in its bright and harmonious nature.

Múm, an electronic-based band from Iceland, has released their seventh studio album, History of Silence, after a 12-year hiatus. The last record that the group released was Smilewound in ’13, but they are back to deliver a bold and almost tale-like collection of music. This album truly feels like it takes you through different points in time to different places and different mindsets.

The album begins wth “A Dry Heart Needs no Winding,” a completely instrumental introduction into the album. At first listen, one might assume that the entire album will be wordless, more like a movie score with its story-like tune.

But in the next track, “Avignon,” we are introduced to light and airy vocals, ridden with nostalgia as the opening lyrics read, “It’s been so long, since Avignon.”

We are called to a memory of a distant time with the artist. From there, with “I Like To Shake” following, it almost seems as if the artist is calling back to a memory from their childhood as the song and its vocals have a very childlike atmosphere to them. 

The album gains more traction and fullness with “Mild at Heart” and “Miss You Dance.” These songs serve as deep turning points in the album where we are taken from a time looking on the past, to live in the present and look towards the future.

A standout part of the album is the ending, featuring “Our Love is Distorting,” which is a quiet and temperate intro with light keys that break out into crashes of drums and guitar. This furthers the feeling that this album carries of fitting into a movie and narrating a character’s life with this last track being a breakout into a dramatic, yet happy ending.