Originally a duo, the band has expanded and contracted in the 12 years of being and has counted 15 - 20 people along the way.
The band was formed in 1997 by original members Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason, their first release was a split 10" with the girl-band Spúnk and saw light in the summer of '98. They were joined a year later by twin sisters Gyða and Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir and released two albums as quartet. Following a number of collaborative projects, the group’s celebrated debut album Yesterday was dramatic - today is OK (reissued by Morr Music in October 2005) gained a wealth of glowing press and widespread praise. A remix project, Please Smile My Noise Bleed, also released on the Morr Music label in November 2001.
In 2002, after the release of Finally We Are No One and the extensive first world tour, Gyða left the band to return to her studies in Reykjavík. Shortly after, the third sister Ásthildur Valtýsdóttir joined for singing duties temporarily and Serena Tideman replaced Gyða on cello, for a single European tour. The band's third album, Summer Make Good, a darker and foggier, nautically themed work was released in May 2004, flanked by two singles, Nightly Cares and Dusk Log. By then the ensemble had evolved to include Eiríkur Ólafsson and Hildur Guðnadóttir (who had guest appearances on múm recordings from the beginning) and Ólöf Arnalds. In early 2006, Kristín also left the band after releasing and heavily touring the album Summer Make Good.
The start of 2006 saw the band's creativity start to blossom once again, starting with two remixes Goldfrapp of the tracks ‘Number 1’ and ‘You Never Know’. They followed this with two legendary DJ sets at the FatCat Festival in Belgium in February and SXSW in Austin Texas 2007. With a combination of decks, effects, laptops, toy microphones, old cassette player recordings and vocals, coupled with their own recorded material, strange electronic covers by friends, gypsy folk music and general craziness on stage. They were also subsequently invited DJ at Summer Sonic Festival in Japan as well as be headline act as DJ's in Radio 1’s Rob Da Bank tent at Bestival on the Isle of Wight. In september 2007 múm released Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy which turned out to be the bands last release for the Fatcat Records.
múm has always worked on projects which could be classed as unusual for a pop band or a pop collective. Among their extra curricular activity is their own soundtrack for the classic Sergei Eisenstein film, 'Battleship Potemkin', live performances of which have taken place in Hafnafjordur Iceland, Brooklyn Lyceum New York, and at the distinguished Gijon Film Festival Spain. múm have also composed for theater, most notably two radio theater plays, 'Svefnhjólið' (Sleeping Wheel) by Gyrdir Eliasson which won the Nordic Radio-theater prize and in 2008 Augu þín sáu mig (Your eyes saw me) by poet Sjón (which múm also worked with in 1999 on the operetta Kisa (cat). In 2005 they were invited to Amsterdam by the Holland Festival to collaborate with the National Dutch Chamber Orchestra to create a performance piece based around various compositions of the late avant-garde composer Iannis Xenakis for one of the centre piece shows at the festival.
múm released their fifth studio album, Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know, in August 2009. The collective now consists of founding members Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason and for touring and recording, this line-up is expanded to include their friends Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson (trumpet / piano/ keyboards), Hildur Guðnadóttir (cello / vocals), Sigurlaug Gísladóttir (Vocals / ukulele/ various), Róbert Reynisson (guitars/ukulele's) and the Finnish Samuli Kosminen (drums / percussion). The musical group sometimes extends to Ólöf Arnalds, Högni Egilsson, Ólafur Björn Ólafsson and Guðbjörg Hlín Guðmundsdóttir as well as a never ending family of friends and musicians who may join at the drop of a hat.
Official website: http://www.mum.is
The Smell of Today Is Sweet Like Breastmilk in the Wind
múm Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tiny waves of holy water, this could be the last whiff of them all
Grief has long flown by and words are only good for lies
In the fleeting world of our fathers, lala lalala lala
The eternal world of our mothers, lala lalala, lala lala
Words can only mean this now, bitter taste has long flown by
We are not afraid to die
We whisper the words of our mothers, lala lalala, lala lala
We are not afraid to die, we are not afraid to leave
This fleeting world of our fathers, lala lalala lala
The eternal world of our mothers, lala lalala, lala lala
This fleeting world of our fathers, lala lalala lala
The eternal world of our mothers, lala lalala, lala lala
The song "The Smell of Today Is Sweet Like Breastmilk in the Wind" by múm is a beautifully haunting piece that evokes a sense of nostalgia, reverence, and tranquility. The first verse talks about the sweet smell of today, which is compared to breastmilk in the wind, something pure and fleeting. The use of holy water is also symbolic, connoting a sense of spiritual purity or rebirth. However, it is also noted that this could be the last whiff of them all, adding to the ephemeral quality of the moment. The second line of the verse alludes to grieving, which may have already passed, and the futility of words in expressing emotions truthfully.
The chorus of the song speaks of the fleeting world of fathers and the eternal world of mothers. This could refer to the idea that our fathers, who belong in the physical realm, are finite beings with passing lives, while our mothers belong to the eternal world of birth and nurturance, hinting at the connection to the breastmilk that was mentioned in the first verse. The lyrics further emphasize that the words of fathers are rendered irrelevant while the words of mothers are preserved and passed on.
In the second verse, the song talks about bitterness as something that has already passed, implying that the singer has progressed beyond this stage and is no longer feeling the negativity. This frees them to face death and mortality without fear. In the last part of the chorus, the fleeting world of fathers is again juxtaposed with the eternal world of mothers, signaling the continuity of life and the role of mothers in sustaining it.
Overall, the song is an ode to ancestry and the passing on of cultural and familial values that shape our present and future. It also acknowledges the inevitability of death while highlighting the significance of nurturing and motherly love in this transient world.
Line by Line Meaning
The smell of today is sweet like breastmilk in the wind
Today's aroma is delicate, like the fragrance of breastmilk carried by the breeze.
Tiny waves of holy water, this could be the last whiff of them all
Small ripples of sacred liquid, possibly the final scent of its kind.
Grief has long flown by and words are only good for lies
Sadness has departed, and language is now deceitful.
In the fleeting world of our fathers, lala lalala lala
In our paternal predecessors' transitory realm, lala lalala lala.
The eternal world of our mothers, lala lalala, lala lala
Our maternal predecessors' everlasting domain, lala lalala, lala lala.
Words can only mean this now, bitter taste has long flown by
Speech can only signify this at present, bitterness has already vanished.
We are not afraid to die
We do not fear death.
Forgetting the words of our fathers, lala lalala lala
Oblivious to our fathers' statements, lala lalala lala.
We whisper the words of our mothers, lala lalala, lala lala
We murmur the expressions of our mothers, lala lalala, lala lala.
We are not afraid to die, we are not afraid to leave
Mortality and departure do not frighten us.
This fleeting world of our fathers, lala lalala lala
Our fathers' momentary existence, lala lalala lala.
The eternal world of our mothers, lala lalala, lala lala
Our mothers' infinite realm, lala lalala, lala lala.
Contributed by Alexandra M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.