Q-and-A: Of Monsters and Men on long break between albums, Grimes, Arcade Fire

TORONTO – Of Monsters and Men couldn’t relax until they finished their second album — their fans made sure of it.

Their platinum-selling debut “My Head is an Animal” was originally released back in September 2011 and some of their devotees’ patience for a follow-up seemed to wane in the years since.

“On Twitter, if you ever do anything that isn’t creating the album — like, ‘Oh, I’m outside, having a beer’ or something — then people are like: ‘No, go home, finish the album,’” laughed lead singer Nanna Bryndis Hilmarsdottir in a telephone interview.

“We just kind of realized that hurrying up wouldn’t make it better — and we just needed our time.

“Luckily, we got that. Till the very end, we certainly could have kept on going. We probably could have kept going forever. But it was time to stop.”

And thus this week’s release of “Beneath the Skin,” a record touted as darker and more intimate than the band’s wildly popular debut.

CP: The band was just getting to know one another when you made the first album. Did the increased familiarity change your approach this time?

Hilmarsdottir: Yeah definitely. This one is more personal, maybe.

It was very challenging for us to not have that guard up. That’s actually the one very conscious decision we made. We said: OK, we’re going to sit down, write these lyrics, say things that are uncomfortable and we’re going to really go there and we’re going to go all the way.

We don’t want to half-ass it. It was very freeing. It was very satisfying when it was over.

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CP: I hear you’re a big fan of (Montreal’s) Grimes.

Hilmarsdottir: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. She’s great.

I listened to her a lot when we were on tour, and I saw her a few times on tour. She has released a few songs since, I don’t even know if they’re making the album. They’re mysterious — like that song “Go,” or that new song.

I’m just so excited to hear her next album.

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CP: Of Monsters and Men were frequently compared to Arcade Fire. How did you feel about that?

Hilmarsdottir: I love Arcade Fire. I think they’re a really, really great band. When we started out, yeah, there were a lot of comparisons. It was also kind of where you were — when you were in Canada, you’d get Arcade Fire.

When it’s someone you like, you don’t mind at all. I think we understood what they were saying, but we also think we sound different.

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Answers have been edited and condensed.

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