This week’s Soothing Song Sundays is dedicated to the song “King and Lionheart” by an Icelandic band called Of Monsters and Men.

The song, “King and Lionheart,” has a very acoustic, harmonic tone to it, as the drum and guitar notes are in unison. To me, the song is about two people making it through some sort of struggle. The two people are being faced with a difficult challenge but they continue to push forward, not letting anyone or anything stop them, no matter what the circumstances are.

The song puts emphasis on the four words, “We’re here to stay.”

According to Dictionary.com, the word, “lionheart,” means a person of exceptional bravery or courage.

I believe the song strongly supports the exact definition of the word lionheart as it is seen in the beautiful lyrics, “Howling ghosts they reappear, in mountains that are stacked with fear / But you’re a king and I’m a lionheart.”

The two people know the struggle and the journey is going to be hard and long, but they can make it through it, together.

Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, lead vocalist and guitarist of the band, wrote the song about her and her brother. She lives and has lived in Iceland, while her only sibling is growing up in Canada. She feels she is missing out on his entire childhood.

The creative music video to “King and Lionheart” starts out with a girl being pulled away from her brother. They are both trying to reach out for each other, screaming for help in their dark, mysterious town, until these positive spirits come to their aid. A bright pink spirit comes to the sister, as she is trapped in a dark hole due to the evil men dragging her down into it. The pink spirit helped her escape and directs her in the direction of her brother. A golden spirit comes to the younger brother’s aid, helping him escape the trapped cage he was locked into, in order for the brother and sister unite.

Bryndís writes, “And as the world comes to an end / I’ll be here to hold your hand / Cause you’re my king and I’m your lionheart.”

The six piece band all started out with Bryndís, as she used to be a solo artist. Her band, Of Monsters and Men, originally started out with her and her high school friend, Brynjar, in 2010.

Of  Monsters and Men consists of an indie pop-folk sound as they hit the media’s attention in 2011 with their debut album My Head Is an Animal.

Throughout their musical journey, Of Monsters and Men have performed at many festivals and concert venues as they started touring in March of 2012.

From the depths of Iceland, to Brazil, Germany, Scotland, Colombia, Argentina, Ireland, Chile, South Africa, Australia, the U.S., and back to Iceland again, Of Monsters and Men’s music has influenced the music charts all over the world.

Some of the concerts and festivals they performed at include the Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza Brazil along with Lollapalooza Chile, Coachella, Bonnaroo, T in the Park in Scotland, and the Optimus Alive! festival in Portugal. You could say the band most certainly branched out from Reykjavik, Iceland.

Along with touring, Of Monsters and Men received much notice from their songs being featured in the T.V. media. Their song “Silhouettes” was a feature track in The Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire. Also, “Dirty Paws” was featured on the iPhone 5 trailer along with “Sinking Man” making its part in The Walking Dead.

In June 2015, Of Monsters and Men released their second album, Beneath the Skin, which features a more mellow and chill sound. They are currently on tour and are listed as one of the main Cochella acts of 2016.

Make sure to check out Of Monsters and Men on Spotify or iTunes, and take a look at their website www.ofmonstersandmen.com to look at their tour dates to see if they are coming to a venue near you.