Sígur Rós ‘Takk…’ (EMI)

Sígur Rós are one of those bands you’ve probably heard of, but never actually heard. You may have read reviews that seemed to consist of nothing more than an incomprehensible string of superlatives from slavish critics, or an enthusiastic friend may have played you one of their records, but the music got lost in the background behind his eager chatter. Let me tell you dear readers, if this describes you, it’s time to put that right.

Fortunately now is a good time as ‘Takk…’, the Icelandic quartet’s fourth album, is easily their most accessible yet. But this isn’t your regular kind of accessible. Sígur Rós haven’t teamed up with Crazy Frog or asked Mylo to add some dance floor friendly beats. The amenability of ‘Takk…’ compared to previous records, especially 2002’s ‘( )’, involves the record’s increased audibility and being less prone to the kind of quirky gloom that living through winters of 24 hour darkness can lead to. ‘Hoppípolla’ is about as mainstream as it gets with its lush orchestration and vocals right at the fore, while ‘Gong’ comes close to rocking out with its military-like drums and vocals that cross Jeff Buckley with Thom Yorke’s whinier moments.

Singer Jon Thor Birgisson sings in a made up cross of Icelandic and other languages so the words themselves are irrelevant and the vocals become yet another instrument. They fade in very gently at the start of the gorgeous single ‘Glósóli’, while a slow rhythm trudges through its snowy surroundings and a reluctant melody comes to life like a music box slowly thawing. The track then builds in a most un-Sígur Rós like fashion as beats pound and guitars reverberate creating a blizzard of white noise in which the song is lost forever, save only a distant echo remaining at the end. On ‘Mílanó’, the epic centrepiece of the album, delicate pianos and operatic vocals blend in beautiful harmony, while slowly swelling to a crescendo on a wave of cymbals that carries it to dramatic heights before laying it gently back on the shoreline. Scarlett Johansson sitting in front of you for 10 minutes wouldn’t match this piece for beauty.

Everything about ‘Takk…’ seems ethereal and elusive. Each note of the lilting electronic melodies appears to have drifted in on a light breeze. Yet they are also so intricate, you feel you can hear much more than you would normally be able to. There is a depth to the music that you don’t expect, while the string arrangements have the Goreckian quality of being both depressing and heart-warming at the same time.

If Coldplay ever want to know how to write an uplifting song without having to beat the listener over the head with heavy chords to ensure they get the point, they should listen to Sígur Rós. This is spiritual music borne of passion and intelligence, the type of music that could fill giant arenas if only the jabbering idiots would shut up long enough to hear it. It can make you sad and angry to think that a second-rate Andrew Lloyd Webber like Chris Martin is so lauded for his song writing, while a band like Sígur Rós will probably never achieve commercial success. But hey, let the fools keep their “tree/me/see” rhymes and predictable major chords, and I’ll take ‘Takk…’. I would urge you to do likewise.

words: Colm Larkin