Sigur Ros – Kveikur review
Somethingyousaid.com’s Tammy Potakh wraps her ears around the latest longplayer from Sigur Ros:
My friend introduced me to these guys two years ago and my first reaction was laughter. Not because I thought it was awful, but on the contrary, I thought it sounded wicked and I was intrigued by their unique sound. I laughed because I’d never heard anything like them before and it implied “fuck yes – what an epic band”.
Whilst the lead vocalist mostly sings in Icelandic, a few of the songs are in ‘hopelandic’, which is literally just jibberish that represents an instrument. Whilst I don’t understand a word they’re singing, the harmonies, the effects, everything just sounds so beautiful, that you get lost in it to the point where you forget that you’re listening to a made-up language.
Kveikur, released last month, is their latest album and features some really twisted tracks. The songs take you on some intergalactic journey or a Celtic otherworldly experience that is best described through interpretive dance.
Their music sounds like something from another world, often futuristic and unpredictable. If I had to compare them to any other bands, then I’d be in trouble because there’s no-one else like them. The closest I can do is make an equation; take old-school Moby, plus the ever so weird-cool Fever Ray, plus old stuff from The Used, add a dollop of the ethereal image that we all hold of Iceland as being some mystical land of holy goodness, a slab of both a timpani and a symphonic sound and finally, a small pinch of oriental spice. VOILA! You have Sigur Ros. Someone on a forum said they sound like “whales humping” and although that’s borderline insulting, I think it sums it up pretty well.
Review by Tammy Potakh
