Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós

Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalust (With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly)

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Sigur Rós moves forward both “geographically and musically” on Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalust, said DBC Pierre in the London Observer. Since releasing its first album 10 years ago, the Icelandic post-rock band has built a career around conjuring up god-like soundscapes that echo the bleak landscapes of its homeland. Its music is often beautiful, even “breathtaking,” but can make you “feel that you’re touring the vastness alone, sometimes in winter.” For its fifth album, Sigur Rós opted for a change of scenery, recording in New York, London, and Havana. The result is a “warm journey” that explores uncharted territory. This “much-needed change of direction” brings the band back to earth, said Mark Pytlik in Pitchforkmedia.com. Previous albums took Sigur Rós’ baronial, “cloud-parting” opuses “to heaven-scraping levels of pomp.” Here, the band sounds “looser, almost playful,” as it stays within the strictures of pop music and keeps songs relatively lean. On “Inni mer syngur vitleysingur,” Sigur Rós packs its signature sounds into a “positively economical” four minutes. But the band often falls back into bad habits, said Stephen Dalton in Uncut. “Ara batur,” featuring the London Sinfonietta and London Oratory Boys’ Choir, is more symphony than song. You can’t blame Sigur Rós, however, for “being too beautiful for its own good.”