Sigur ros: "Takk"

Despite the almost heavenly and angelic ambience created, the song climaxes with a powerful hard-hitting eruption of sound that blasts like the heat of a battle. Rare compared to much of their work, it's reminiscent of 'Staráflur', which climaxes in a similar fashion, however 'Glosoli' has a far fiercer crescendo. - Matt Oakley - Clickmusic

Sigur Ros's immense, uncategorisable sound, fronted by Birgisson's unearthly falsetto, is undoubtedly evocative - but nobody can agree on what exactly it evokes. They have a tendency to make critics lose their heads and babble on about glaciers and volcanoes, or, in one particularly purple instance, "the sound of God weeping tears of gold in heaven". On the band's third album, 2002's (), they even dispensed with titles, and Birgisson sang almost entirely in Hopelandic, an imagined language he cheerfully describes as "nonsense". On their astounding new album, Takk ... , titles are back and most of the lyrics are in Icelandic. This spirit of glasnost also animates their interviews, which were once a barren tundra of single-word answers. In 2001, one journalist came away with just three usable quotes, one of which was "Yeah, yeah". They'll still admit that, given the choice, they would never talk to the press. "It would be nice, yes, if that was possible," says guitarist and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. "That's something I used to talk about, but I'm getting older and," he laughs, "weaker. I used to be really sceptical about these things and not really trust anybody." The Guardian


The band have some rather complicated song and sound structures and I wanted to know how they approach their song writing. The pieces are so intricate that I couldn’t even hazard a guess. “It’s sort of like the songs write themselves” says Goggi. It has to be the four of us together – starting something. I could be anything. It could be a noise or a new instrument. Somebody starts playing something. It’s very much just plugging in our instruments and starting to play. We might play the same thing for a long time then think ‘last week we did something else which could fit’. Also it’s very natural. It just happens. It must be the four of us though”. They don’t have a lead songwriter at all, it’s very unified. “We’ve written more in rehearsals. A lot of the things we write we just forget. Some of them we’ll play for a couple of weeks just because we like playing but we know we’re not going to put it on the record because we know it doesn’t represent what we do in general. I think we definitely write more in the studio”. Dorian - Fasterlouder


Sigur Ros are in my opinion on another playing field when it comes to making shamelessly beautiful music with no pretense at masculinity or that hip, detached rock star shtick that the strokes have everyone so excited about. They just aren't afraid to go after the melodies and layered soundscapes that make your heart rise up in your chest and beat just a little faster than usual- the sort of feeling you get when the edge's guitar first enters on where the streets have no name. And I must say its impressive to hear a band with such little ego and a simple desire to make soul stirring music. As far as Takk, their soon to be released album, is concerned, my impression is that this is an album of the highest distinction, an album that exceeds even the standards that sigur ros themselves have created and takes them to a level of musical mastery that few groups have been fortunate enough to reach. It is staggeringly beautiful at points, life-affirming and positive and a perfect though unexpectedly comprehensive improvement on their previous work. John Mocko - Albumvote

Parola di Bielle (Cosimo Pacciani)
Continuano a stupirmi questi islandesi. Se non li conoscessi, penserei di star ascoltando una canzone di Yossou n'Dour. il nuovo singolo di un disco che promette meraviglie e parole impronunciabili parte con un giro di basso pesante, come colpi di pagaia o passi nella neve. Una voce di un bambino e quella di un castrato si rincorrono a raccontarsi fantasmi. Sono sempre loro. Melodici e spettrali. Consigliatissimi come sempre. A chi ama la musica che ottura le orecchie, i suoni senza tempo e per questo modernissimi. La canzone alla fine impazzisce su un ritmo elettronico od ancora il rumore di mille passi di fanteria. il rumore bianco al suo massimo. Esplosioni nel cielo terso di un altrove.