Palladium, Cologne, Germany11th August 2008
Sigur Ros
On 20th June 2008, the Icelandic band SIGUR ROS released their fifth album ‘Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust’ meaning ‘With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly’ in English. It was produced by the band and co-produced by production genius Flood and recorded at the Sear Sound Studios in New York, the Assault, Battery- and Abbey Road Studios in London, in a church, the band’s own studio in Reykjavik and in Havana, Cuba. While the last SIGUR ROS release, the critically acclaimed film chronicle of last year’s Island tour ‘Helma’ showed the and on confided territory, the new album marks the first recording of the band outside of island. It’s also the first album in the band’s career on which the voice of singer Jon Thor Birgisson can be heard in English on one song. The rest is as usual sung in Icelandic.
With its playful vocals, rhythmic shifts, whirling percussions and its agile acoustic guitar chords, the first song ‘Gobbledigook’ sets the tone for the new album. ‘Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur’ (Within Me A Lunatic Sings), shines as one of the most hymnal songs ever written by SIGUR ROS. ‘Festival’ can be considered epic with its high mood and its dimensions. ‘Illgresi’ (Weeds) comprises one of Jonsis most beautiful guitar lines over a single-handedly recorded acoustic guitar pattern. ‘Ára Bátur’ (Row Boat) is the so far biggest musical endeavour of the band for a song; because it was recorded live in one take with London’s Sinfonietta and the London Oratory boys’ choir – 90 musicians played simultaneously for it. Furthermore the band again used the talent of the befriended Amiina string quartet and a five headed winds section for various songs of the album. The premier of the Melotron in the writing and recording process of the band resulted in one of the mellowest songs on the album ‘Fljótavik’.
The spirit behind ‘Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust’ was perfectly captured for the album by acclaimed visual artist Ryan McGinley. McGinley firstly met the band six years ago when he photographed Jonsi. The album cover originates from a flyer to McGinley’s most recent exhibition ‘I know where the summer goes’ finding its way into Jonsis mail box, just when the band was about to decide on how the song collection could be visualized best. The result is a perfect synergy of the aural and the visual.
Already since June the band is on tour to present their new album live to the people and on 11th August, they’ll be guest at Cologne’s Palladium to enchant the audience with the sounds of ‘Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust’.
Additional Concert Info
Doors open: 6:30 PM
Starts: 8:00 PM
Ticket fee: 34.30 EUR + Charges (presale)
Tickets are available at all known booking offices or online at: http://www.eventim.de/ or http://www.hekticket.de/
Source: Press Release
