Icelandic band creates provocative sound

By Jeff Renfro

Sigur Ros, universally hailed as one of the most interesting and innovative bands today, have created a masterpiece with their new album "Takk." The album features the same type of breathtaking crescendos and austere sound-scapes that defined their earlier work. However, they add a new element of restraint; the result of which is clearly the album of the year.

The members of Sigur Ros (Jon Bor Birgisso: vocals/ guitar, Kjartan Sveinsson: keyboards, Orri Pall Dyraso: drums, and Georg Holm: bass) are Icelandic and claim to represent the beautiful landscapes of their homeland through music. Formed in the late '90s, Sigur Ros released their first album "Von" only in Iceland. The album did well and caught the attention of European record companies.

For their major label follow-up, they decided to record the album in a swimming pool and sing the lyrics in an invented language. The result was 2000's "Agaetis The band followed "Agaetis "Takk," which is Icelandic for thank you, improves on their earlier releases by showing restraint. In the past, the band would have piled on another crescendo. The best example of this is on the third track "Hoppipolla." The song opens with a simple piano melody, before light ambient elements are added to enrich the sound. Later, as the song builds, the string section takes over. Normally, a drum flourish marks the beginning of a Sigur Ros climax. One of the most amazing things about Sigur Ros is that they create their sound with a guitar-drum-bass-keyboard format. A string section is frequently added, but the backbone of the songs are the typical instruments that many other bands use.

They then distort the sound in post-production and experiment with different strumming techniques, the guitars frequently played with a bow. Sigur Ros takes these typically used instruments by most bands and coaxes a completely unique sound out of them.

Even with a foreign-language, Sigur Ros manages to create an emotionally provocative experience above and beyond any other band today. Unlike other experimental bands, the message does not get lost in abstraction. The innovation of Sigur Ros allows them to touch their fans in a way that would be impossible using traditional song structures. "Takk" is the perfect marriage of innovation and popular appeal.

Grade: A