SIGUR ROS
Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
(XL)
By Ian Ferguson
Almost a decade has passed since Sigur Ros’ 1999 release Ágætis Byrjun (Fat Cat/Smekkleysa) established itself as a masterful work. Arriving after two other acclaimed albums, the band’s Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (XL), sounds like its most celebratory release to date – a triumphant recording fittingly produced by a group whose name translates as “Victory Rose.”
The first track boldly opens the disc. Evoking images of a Roman military parade, four guitar chords, panned alternately across the right then left speaker, count down to youths cartwheeling and dancing in pristine white togas, singing “lalalala” in high falsetto. Picture them spreading flower petals for the approaching processional, as Sigur Ros delivers a hard-driving drum pulse and soldiers, fists beaten against shields, boots stamped in time upon the ground, march double-time. Lead vocalist Jon Thor Birgisson sings above all this — the returning hero, chariot-borne, composed, able to silence his soldiers, or excite their enthusiasm. The sound supports him as much as a parade would its hero, home to claim his triumph.
The following track, “Inní mér syngur vitleysingur,” continues the theme, opening with an Olympic horn fanfare sample taken from faded analog tape so pale that the first track, “Gobbledigook,” stands out in brilliant contrast. The first song sounds so gloriously triumphant that it speaks more to the band’s past achievements than to the rest of the album, which establishes the timbre of its voice in the second track. Appropriate to Sigur Ros’ homeland, it’s a timbre of ice.