Empire

An expansive, cinematic indie folk anthem that builds mythology around the push and pull between ambition and belonging. The production is orchestral in scope without losing the handmade quality that defines Of Monsters and Men's aesthetic — strings and horns arranged with sweep but not excess, a rhythm section that drives rather than dominates. Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar Þórhallsson's vocal interplay creates the song's emotional core, their voices layering into something greater than either alone. Lyrically "Empire" maps the tension between building something — a relationship, an identity, a future — and the sacrifices that construction demands. The imagery is heroic in scale but personal in application, empire as metaphor for shared ambition rather than geopolitics. Iceland's tradition of story-songs lends the band a natural affinity for this kind of narrative scope, and "Empire" deploys that capacity fully. It functions as road trip music, as music for the space between where you were and where you're becoming, or for anyone who finds themselves building something whose cost is still being calculated.