‘Sæglópur’, the 3rd single to be released from Sigur Rós’s gold-selling fourth album ‘Takk…’, has a genuine oh-my-God!-ness about it, guaranteed to floor even the most seasoned Sigur Ros watcher. And to think it all begins so delicate and butter-wouldn’t-melt...
A piano picks out a pretty riff, a glockenspiel plays an almost-not-there top-line and Jonsi’s airy vocal gently levitates above all. But then, just as you’re settled back soaking up the loveliness, the band launch an exocet missile into the middle of proceedings and, out of a clear blue sky, an intense bombardment begins.
Jonsi’s bowed guitar finds the power to instil the fear of God, while the bass and drums thunder alarmingly round your head and the piano takes on demonic overtones. Then suddenly, there is a melodic gap in the clouds and a chorus bursts forth only to be subsumed once more in the sturm und drang of this most powerful piece of music. Around the five-minute mark, however, the storm subsides for good, and open vistas of vast orchestral plains open up over the songs last couple of minutes, suffused all about with an eerie heavenly glow.
The first time you hear this, it is a real-life hair-raising experience; your blood seems to run a little quicker and your skin goes properly prickly. There may be a tendency to feel somewhat lost for words for a few moments afterwards. In this regard, ‘Sæglópur’ may well be the purest distillation to date of the chemistry Sigur Rós have at their collective fingertips.
It is well documented that the group are eminently capable of spellbinding melodic delicacy and also bewildering towers of rock power, but never before have they been so effectively brought together in a way that leaves the listener quite so emotionally undone. ‘Sæglópur’ - as simple as its guitar, bass, drums and keys ingredients are – feels like a record of near divine inspiration.
An immense song from the band’s most rewarding and accomplished album to date, ‘Sæglópur’ is harder than heavy metal and more beautiful than the most mellifluous modern classical; it is the record to make everyone believe Sigur Rós really are as special as we’d all hoped they might turn out to be.
Turning this release into a must have purchase for all discerning fans and new converts alike are 3 brand new tracks from the wondrous minds of the Icelandic quartet; ‘Refur’, ‘O Fridu’r and ‘Kafari’ back ‘Sæglópur’ to create a simply magical EP. The package also offers a DVD containing the videos from the 3 singles from ‘Takk…’ thus far, ‘Glosoli’, ‘Hoppipolla’ and of course, Sæglópur’
The ‘Sæglópur’ EP + DVD is released on EMI on July 10th.
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