Jónsi: Go

(XL)

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For the last 10 years, Jónsi Birgisson’s “fragile, luminescent tenor” has hovered above Sigur Rós’ atmospheric rock, serving as something of an aural equivalent to the expansive beauty of the band’s native Iceland, said Jason Killingsworth in Paste. While his solo debut, Go, is “unmistakably beautiful,” it can’t quite match the emotional depth or musical grandeur of Sigur Rós’ mini-symphonies. Birgisson’s voice still sounds like it should tie “human throats in knots,” while the Nico Muhly compositions manage a “sublime balancing act between instrumental dynamism and vocal nuance.” But most of the album’s lyrics are in English, rather than Icelandic, and that strips some of the mystery from Birgisson’s delivery. With a voice that heavenly, Birgisson could be singing gibberish and it wouldn’t matter, said Ryan Dombal in Pitchforkmedia.com. His “commitment and wide-eyed naïveté” have always distinguished Sigur Rós’ sound, and that same sense of innocence “truly elevates” Go.