Elly Roberts reviews
Sigur Ros: Takk
Distributed by
EMI
- Cat.no: 3372522
- Released: September 2005
- Rating: 6/10
At the time of writing the review,
it's Monday September 12, and I'm sunbathing in the glory of an unexpected
Indian summer - working at the same time of course!
On my PC is a CD by troubadour Icelandic quartet Sigur Ros. Thoughts
immediately turn to Iceland, an island few people venture to, though I did
meet someone from there last year. The music I'm listening to (not a three
minute pop song in sight), takes me to another place, sub-consciously, or
even stimulus bound by the word Iceland, to the distant island I would
imagine.
And that's exactly what I'm doing - imagining. I'm running through
some kind of rapid storyboard of how to add images in my mind's eye.
The four young men responsible for my trip are - Jon 'Jonsi' Birgisson, Kjartan
Svenisson, Orri Pall Dyrason and Georg Holm.
Takk (Thanks) is their fourth studio release, out on September 12 on EMI
Records. The quartet have released a strangely titled single and albums in
the past two years with little impact on the UK charts - their last album
just crawled into the top 50 at 49. So what chance has Takk got on improving
on their abysmal early record? Critics seem to love it, and there's bound to
be a queue of tv and film directors already lining it up for some up-and-coming
project. Commercial success is not on the cards, some might say it's a poor
man's Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield). 'Musos' will probably lap it up.
Musically it's very attractive: quirky, and almost ground-breaking. It's
also deceptive. Opener, Takk, limping along at one minute 57 seconds draws
you into a false sense of comfort as it leads into Glosoli which gratingly
crescendos into power-mode at 4 minutes 43 seconds of its 6 minutes 15
seconds. Hoppipolla could be a confused Coldplay, which rises and falls to
some grand orchestration. The next track is almost the same. Se Lest is so
delicate it's almost in danger of shattering into tiny bits until a 'brass
band' section just holds it together. Fragility continues on Saeglopur until
thumping chords once again shatter the illusion, a formula included on
Milano (10 mins 25 secs) and Svo Hljott. Advari is serene throughout and
very sleepy.
It finishes as it started, with the chill-out and meandering Heysatan.
For the ordinary pop fan this will leave you wondering, particularly as the
vocalist (Jon 'Jonsi' Birgisson) is singing in an invented language -
Hopelandic. Add the music and lyrics together we're left to work things out
for ourselves for over an hour and five minutes. That's what pop music isn't
about, so therefore 'art' becomes more complex, and dare I say it,
intellectual.
There are wondrous moments of beauty, tenderness, finesse,
bemusement, apocalyptic highs and trickiness - with an odd-nod to Coldplay
(not too much though).Centre stage is the singing, which curiously becomes
subliminal, but blends in at the appropriate timing, adding to the various
ambiences on offer.
If the end is nigh, and there is another apocalyptic event, then this is
surely the soundtrack for it.
Did I really hear this, or was I just imagining once again?
Weblink:
Sigur-Ros.co.uk
The full list of tracks included are :
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
