Sigur Rós
Reykjavik, Iceland10 reviews across 5 releases
Sigur Rós is an Icelandic band formed in Reykjavik in 1994, whose music moved from slow, guitar-led rock toward orchestral post-rock without losing its sense of restraint. Jónsi Birgisson's high, fragile voice is central to the sound, rising above bowed electric guitar, organ, piano and strings while the songs often stretch past conventional verse-and-chorus form. The 1999 album Ágætis Byrjun established the contrast reviewers kept returning to: beauty could arrive as a soft vocal and swelling harmony, then turn cold through feedback, electronics or a heavy drum entrance. Ný Batterí pushed the mood toward darker bass, horns and organ. By ( ) in 2002, the quartet had pared the arrangement back, divided the record into lighter and darker halves, and used silence as part of the design. Takk brought a fuller, more rock-oriented sound in 2005, with Icelandic lyrics replacing Hopelandic on the reviewed album.
In 2010, Sigur Rós entered a hiatus while its members pursued other work; the group returned with Valtari in 2012, followed by Kveikur after Kjartan Sveinsson left in 2013. Drummer Orri Páll Dýrason departed in 2018, leaving Jónsi and Georg Hólm as the remaining original members. Kjartan rejoined in 2022, and the trio released Átta in 2023 before returning to orchestral performances and touring. The changes did not produce a single stable post-2005 phase: the band moved from the quiet, choral ambition associated with Valtari toward the harder electronic attack of Kveikur, then resumed work with Sveinsson back in the lineup. Sigur Rós remains active, with Jónsi, Hólm and Sveinsson at its core.
5 releases reviewed
Ágætis Byrjun
Ný Batterí
Angels of the Universe
