Its lead single, "Little Talks", was an international success, reaching the top 10 in most music charts in Europe, including No.

[12][13] The band was formed in 2009, when Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir decided to add additional members to her solo project, Songbird.

In August, Philadelphia's Radio 104.5 began playing "Little Talks" and propelled the band to nationwide popularity.

[9] With success in Iceland and growing popularity in the United States, the band signed with Universal for a worldwide release of the record.

[19] Of Monsters and Men issued the EP Into the Woods on 20 December 2011, which featured four songs from their debut album, and later put out My Head Is an Animal in the US, on 3 April 2012.

[23] Trumpeter Ragnhildur Gunnarsdóttir joined Of Monsters and Men on their 2012 tour as a session player.

[24] The group performed "Little Talks" and "Mountain Sound" on Saturday Night Live on 4 May 2013,[25] and they played at the first annual Boston Calling Music Festival, on 26 May 2013.

[26] Their song "Dirty Paws" was featured in a trailer for the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and the iPhone 5 introduction video released in September 2012.

[29] In an interview published on 6 May 2014, Nanna stated that the album was forthcoming, but that the band had not decided on a release date yet.

[39] On 2 May 2019, Of Monsters and Men released "Alligator", the first single from their third album, Fever Dream, which came out on 26 July.

On 9 June 2022, Of Monsters and Men released the documentary Tíu, accompanied by an EP of the same name, at the 2022 Tribeca Film festival, as a celebration of the ten-year anniversary of My Head Is an Animal.