1. Otherwise known as "Vaka", this is one of my favorite tracks off of this CD. The opening organ sounds almost like Radiohead's "Everything in its right place" drone, but the buildup comes, as always, and when it hits, it's lovely. There is, in the background, a type of sampling with Jonsi's voice to give the chorus more depth, but I like it because it's purposfully noticable as merely sped-up. Other bands will have their vocals perfectly pitch-adjusted by computer in order to have flawless harmonies. Sigur Ros's method isn't flawed; it's just different. And the important aspect is the higher-pitched Jonsi that you hear in the background? Yeah, he actually sings that in concert.
2. This is the weakest track on the album, in my opinion. Very slow, very mournful, and some mildly pretty guitar, but a bit too static and unchanging for me. I wonder why this put this here. However, all is redeemed:
3. This is such a wonderful track. It's an instrumental but you've got it all: a really simple and beautiful piano riff, the constant presence of Jonsi's guitar sending small swells of feedback like ripples, and the string section. And this leads the album's 1-2 punch into:
4. Or "The Nothing Song", which is fantastic. The studio version is something so much more polished and pure. It's a great song, very beautiful.
5. This song is also slower, and is possibly my other least favorite. It's nice, though, and even as I listen to it now, I find more and more redeeming things about it. It's pretty, although also really slow and mournful, but it has a lot more character than the second track on this CD.
6. Slow and pretty (are you getting the theme here?), the climax of the song is cutomary Sigur-Ros pretty. Not entirely stand out but still good.
7. Ah, here we go. I had actually neglected to listen to the full 12+ minutes of this track until last night, and it blew me away (I love when that happens, heh). The swell of this is not unlike track 6 from Agaetus Bryrjun, although Jonsi actually sings the higher parts this time around. In Agaetus Bryrjun, the chorus was wonderful but also a bit too polished. This whole album's theme is a more raw sound, and it's noticable, but instead of sounding cold and alien compared to their more lush previous album, it makes Agaetus Bryrjun look almost TOO sweet, like a pound of sugar.
So give this track time - it pays off. The emotion is Jonsi's voice is great - and it makes me hope that they play this live. And then we have the promised live song;
8. The Pop Song, which has been growing on me a lot. I see it as two parts, the main verse verse verse part, which is pretty in itself. I like the melody. Then, when the drums switch up, the song's tone does, too. Suddenly it's a little more threatening, more ominous, which hadn't really been captured like this throughout the whole album until now. It's especially rad how Jonsi sounds like he's saying, almost threateningly, "Don't you move". He's not, of course, heh, but regardless; then the song just looms, looms, and then comes down on you with some fantastic drumming and several miniature climaxes before just disconnecting itself - seriously. You hear the guitar just pull out and that's it.
I have never had quite this reaction to an album. Comparing it to Agaetus Bryrjun is unfair but unavoidable; that album was incredible. This album is not as accessable, not as warm, but focuses more on the glacial beauty of their music. In a sense, there is more emotion in this. It doesn't make me hate Agaetus Bryrjun at all, but like I said, it makes it look hyperpolished almost to the point of over-production. Sigur Ros doesn't need millions of dollars to sound great, and I think it brings light to their songwriting capabilities and coherance as a band.
Give it a shot. And they're doing studio recordings of the new live versions of Von and Haffasol for the B-side to the first single!@#$ That'll be excellent. The first single, I believe, is Vaka, the first track. Hope you like it. I can't promise you'll like it right away but have patience with it. It really suits Fall, anyway.
chewwwwww,
Jared