Athens66

There is no need for introductions to Sigur Rós. All I need to say is that three years after the release of Takk and one year after their movie Heima they are back with their fifth album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly). It is the first time they record outside of Iceland and also the first time to feature a track with English lyrics (there is a first for everything). On June 9th they decided to make the whole album available for streaming through their site. This gave us an opportunity to listen to the record and provide you with a pre-release review. The album will go on sale on June 25th but you can pre-order it from their site.

It’s really tough to give an objective review for one of your favorite bands. You are always bound to like their album (cause you’ve already fallen in love with their sound years ago) but you are also more judgmental of any changes you may notice. You unwittingly over-compare the new tracks to the ones from the past, which have slowly grown on you over the years after endless repeats. Especially when it comes to Sigur Rós, the endless sleepless nights marked by love, hate, despair and lust (to which they were always a part of) make the task simply impossible. So I’ll do my best and keep this as simple as possible (most of you will just go out and buy it no matter what I say anyway).

The album has a different feel than most Sigur Rós records. It starts cheerful and uplifting with the first couple of tracks being the most pop sounds I’ve ever heard from them (no intros or slow build ups…straight into the rhythm). After a small breath of air (Góðan daginn) comes Við spilum endalaust, which is as indie as they will ever be. This is followed by my favorite track of the album, Festival. A song that slowly builds up into a rock anthem (again unusual for them). From then on the album slowly calms down (especially after Suð í eyrum) into more familiar territory. However, it never falls into the darker moods of the past and even the slower tempo songs have an optimistic melancholy. These all may sound strange at first, but after a few takes on the album I must say I really loved it. It’s something different, something that most people wouldn’t expect but as with most of their albums, the more you listen to them the more you get drawn into the new world they offer. At the end, the most important factor to a successful Sigur Rós album is the freedom to wonder off and dream along their tracks. And as the record closes we were once again left dreaming while Birgisson fare welled us for the first time in English, ”is time to be alright”…

Góðan daginn


Festival


Fljótavík


All Alright


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