KVEIKUR

If Valtari showcased Sigur Rós at their most becalmed, their most recent album is a more muscular proposition. A trio again after the departure of Sveinsson, the sound shifts from glacial to granite. JÓNSI: From “Hoppípolla” onwards we’d had a public image as the band from the nature documentaries. This was a conscious decision to go to a darker place, such as we might have inhabited around the time of the brackets record. We also had lost a player and needed perhaps to become more fundamental in our approach. HÓLM: When we went into the rehearsal space with just the three of us, it was really interesting how things were different, sonically. We liked it, it was refreshing. This album is way more aggressive, heavily drums-and-bass-driven, with Jónsi’s beauty on top. We were also messing around with computers in a completely different way than we had before. We were sampling things and then playing them as instruments, almost creating our own instruments from scratch. In part, that has continued with the new material. We’re playing at least three new songs, sometimes four, in the current live show. The new record will probably prove to be the longest in creation – and the hardest to create! Sigur Ros’ European tour begins on September 16 at the 02 Apollo, Manchester