Of Monsters and Men: 'TÍU' documentary

'TÍU' the documentary

Beginning in January, our in-flight entertainment system will offer a unique Icelandic documentary titled 'TÍU' (which means 10 in Icelandic).

It's a story featuring Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men, or OMAM, celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their debut album, 'My Head is an Animal', filmed during the covid pandemic.

It's an album that took the music world by storm, and to celebrate its birthday the band traveled to beautiful locations in Iceland where they love to perform. 'TÍU' allows the audience to follow them on this journey, and peek into their personal world and their creative legacy.

In the band's own words: "We took a little trip around Iceland and spent some time together. We ate good food and did some fun things, including playing the songs on our upcoming TÍU EP in various places that mean something to us to commemorate our 10 years of being a band. No big venues, no audiences. Just the five of us and some friends and family..."

‘TIU' was an official selection at various film festivals throughout 2022 and 2023, including the coveted Tribeca Film Festival, and won Best Short Documentary at the 2023 Dumbo Film Festival.

Helming this artistic endeavor is director Dean DeBlois, renowned for his work on Sigur Rós’ acclaimed documentary 'Heima', plus animated features 'How to Tame Your Dragon' and 'Lilo and Stitch'.

Here's the trailer, to whet your appetite for great music, band camaraderie, and incredible Icelandic landscapes.

If you're not flying with us any time soon, you can also watch 'TÍU' on YouTube.

Of Monsters and Men – a timeline

The band is widely known for their indie-folk anthems, plus their more intimate songs, and for videos that often incorporate elements of Iceland in innovative, storied interpretations.

OMAM's songs have been featured in soundtracks for 'The Hunger Games' and 'The Walking Dead' as well as trailers for movies such as 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' (2013, and predominantly filmed in Iceland) and 'The Good Dinosaur' (2015).

The band has performed in prime slots at some of the biggest festivals in the world, including Coachella, Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, and even made a cameo in an episode of HBO’s 'Game of Thrones'.

So where did this all begin, and how did it take shape...?

2009-10 Of Monsters and Men is formed in Garðabær, close to Reykjavík.

2010 The band's climb to recognition begins on a local scale when they win Músíktilraunir (the Icelandic Music Experiments), an annual Icelandic battle-of-the-bands competition. As part of the award, OMAM performs at the 2010 Iceland Airwaves music festival, Reykjavík's annual showcase of incredible local and international acts.

2011 The debut album 'My Head is an Animal' is released. The album reaches the No 1 position in Australia, Iceland, and Ireland, as well as on the US Rock and Alternative charts, while peaking at No 6 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, No 3 in the UK, and top 20 of most European and Canadian charts. Its lead single, "Little Talks", becomes an international smash.

2013 OMAM wins the European Border Breakers Award, an annual prize awarded each year to recognize the success of emerging artists or groups who reached audiences outside their own countries.

2015 The second album, 'Beneath the Skin' is released.

2017 The band hits one billion streams on Spotify, becoming the first Icelandic band to reach this milestone.

2019 OMAM releases 'Fever Dream', the third album, and headlines Iceland Airwaves. Read our interview with the band from fall 2019, for our in-flight magazine, Stopover.

2020 OMAM is one of the acts that participate in Live from Reykjavík – a reimagined Airwaves festival that takes place online due to the covid pandemic.

2021 The band takes an intimate tour of Iceland when their world tour was cancelled due to the pandemic, and the tour becomes a documentary, 'TÍU'.

2023 Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir releases her debut solo album, 'How to Start a Garden', under the name Nanna and tours the USA and Europe.

OMAM livestreamed

For Iceland Airwaves 2019, we invited New York City and the rest of the world to watch Of Monsters and Men livestreamed at Times Square and our Facebook page – direct from Reykjavík. Take a look!

We bring Icelandic music to the world

At Icelandair, we love music. Our support of the Icelandic music scene involves helping local artists travel abroad. We also created an event in Iceland – the Iceland Airwaves music festival – where music enthusiasts from all over the world can come to Iceland and hear the very best our scene has to offer. In addition, we sponsor Músíktilraunir (the Icelandic Music Experiments) to help young musicians find new audiences.