Sigur Ros previews new tunes on world tour
The Icelandic post-rock act’s new album might not be ready yet but fans have already been treated to unreleased songs from the upcoming record
THERE is something truly magical about Sigur Ros’ music. Just ask anyone who attended the Icelandic band’s first ever show in Singapore back in 2012 at Fort Canning.
As the post-rockers launched into their final song of the set – Popplaggio, off their critically-acclaimed 2002 album () – the skies started to open up. What happened next was something no concert set designer could dream of pulling off.
The intensity of the rain started to build up in sync with the tempo of the song and culminated in a heavy downpour as Poplaggio worked its way towards the thunderous outro. And when the band struck the final notes of the evening, the skies suddenly cleared up again.
“I definitely remember that because it also happened on the same tour when we played at The Greek Theatre in Oakland!” laughed bassist Georg Holm, over a Zoom interview from Iceland.
Sigur Ros is currently on a break now after just completing a string of North American dates earlier this year. Since forming in 1994, it has sold millions of albums and their music has been used in various films and television shows.
The Australasian leg of the current tour kicks off next week and will include a stop in Singapore on Aug 17. This will be Sigur Ros’ third visit here after also headlining the Neon Lights Festival in 2016.
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Holm and frontman Jonsi Birgisson are the 2 remaining original members left but the band also recently welcomed back former keyboardist Kjartan Sveinnson in February. The latter joined in 1998 when Sigur Ros was recording Ageatis Byrjun, their second album which led to their international breakthrough, and left in 2013.
“Kjartan did leave at one point because he was tired of the touring thing and wanted to experience something else which is what he did with his solo stuff, said Holm, “but there was always room for him and he was welcomed back anytime.”
Incidentally, Sveinnson’s return to the band wasn’t planned but took shape when both he and Birgisson began collaborating on a side project. When Holm caught wind of it, he wanted in too and it didn’t take too long before it became a full-blown reunion: “It just felt so natural and it was really nice when we realised that we missed things like Kjartan’s keyboard parts.”
Being Sigur Ros’ only classically trained composer, Sveinnson has also added an extra musical dimension to the band’s atmospheric pieces and the upcoming eighth album. About 3 new unreleased songs have also found their way into the current tour’s setlist and can be found easily online.
Asked if fans should listen to the bootlegged audio of the new tracks or not, Holm said, “I am of the opinion that everybody should experience everything in every way; even with the bad bootleg sound quality – just take it all in.”
But he warned the same songs on the record “might sound very different from the ‘live’ versions” because a lot of the elements and details in the studio recordings cannot be replicated on stage: “The songs will be more stripped-down and intimate when we play it ‘live’ but they will sound more expansive on the album.”
Holm also shared that it is not unusual for Sigur Ros to tour before releasing an album. “We did the same for about a year and a half before even recording a single note for ()! I don’t think it’s a good idea because you end up with specific ideas of what the songs would be like before walking into the studio and that became a very difficult album for us to finish – we had to scrap it about 3 times!”
No release date has been announced yet for the release of the new record, although Holm revealed “it will be out as soon as we possibly can”, as the band prepares to hit the road once again. “We are happy to delay it a little bit because we think it would be better in the end.”
Sigur Ros plays The Star Theatre on Aug 17 at 8 pm. Tickets are on sale now from Sistic and the venue’s box office.
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