THE RETURN OF SIGUR RóS

The atmosphere inside Toronto’s Massey Hall was curiously unique, with it’s walls lined with hundreds of somber adoring fans, all anxiously awaiting the beautiful barrage of fuzz and sound that Iceland’s Sigur Rós are known to produce. Instead of the familiar sudden sonic assault on the senses, a lonely light bulb swells on and off, simultaneous with a single sonar blip. A second lightbulb suddenly appears at the other end of the stage, swelling at double the tempo of the first, synchronized with the sound of a reed organ. Soon enough, four small light bulbs were swelling on and off in ravishing rhythm, while the now-recognizable tune of ‘Svefn-g-englar’, from “ágætis byrjun” (1999), began to ring through the concert hall.

A wonder to behold in any setting, the magical affects of Sigur Rós were thought to have passed into oblivion once the band confirmed their hiatus status as of January 2010.

Pursuing his independent efforts, frontman Jónsi Birgisson began touring in the summer of the same year, exhibiting his first wondrous solo effort titled “Go”. Following this tour, and a year and a half after entering their hiatus, Sigur Rós returned on the scene with the presentation of Inni, a double CD and DVD consisting of live performances from concerts in London, England.

It was at the United Kingdom premiere of Inni on November 3rd where the band first confirmed rumours of a new album***—and possible tour—during the spring of 2012.Recording their new album in an area that was once a public swimming pool, Sigur Rós have produced material that has been called “introverted,” “floaty and minimal,” “an ambient album,” and “a slow takeoff towards something” by the band members themselves. Describing how they’ve arrived at their ‘new’ sound, Sigur Rós’s Kjartan Sveinsson states, “We’ve never been gimmicked into keeping our sound similar to what we did last. It’s very easy for musicians to buy into that idea. It’s so unnecessary.”

So, change is imminent, however, those seasoned Sigur Rós fans wondering if the new album will feature elements of hip-hop, death metal, and dubstep, I think we can safely expect the return of the unfailingly fascinating affects of Sigur Rós.
The band has not released any information regarding possible song-titles, exact release dates, tour dates, album art, or possible album titles.

Stay tuned.