jónsi – go
jónsi of sigur rós has released his solo album, go. the record is in stores worldwide now.
order ‘go’ from your country
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about go
go contains nine songs amassed from the large pool of songs written by jónsi during his many years with sigur rós. the album is sung in english and icelandic, and was co-produced by jónsi, his partner alex somers and peter katis (the national, interpol).
when he began working on go, jónsi initially thought he would be making a low-key, acoustic album until, as he says, “somewhere along the line, it just sort of exploded.” that explosion resulted in sheer aural fireworks. not a straight ahead pop record, nor rock, folk, ambient or electronic, it encompasses all of these to create an expansive musical palette that’s been brought to life by jónsi alongside a number of free-spirited collaborators.
chief among these is nico muhly, the philip glass protégé who is renowned for his work with björk, antony & the johnsons, bonnie “prince” billy and grizzly bear. muhly has arranged all the songs on go, bringing strings, brass and woodwind to dance playfully alongside his offbeat piano playing. add into the mix the percussive genius of samuli kosminen, whose original drumming powers many of the songs along, and you have a sonic landscape that bears little relation to anything else around today, yet explodes from the speakers with sheer happiness and wonder, wide-eyed and eager to be heard.
reviews
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birgisson has just made the best record of his career 9/10 - clash music |
a phenomenal record with almost every bar bursting with beauty. has ‘pop’ music ever sounded this wonderful? ****1/2 - music omh |
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it does cartwheels when it bloody well feels like it, cries when it wants to, and raises the bar for song writers like sufjan stevens who share similarly heady classical predilections. 8/10 - paste magazine |
the sigur rós singer fights huge with huger on his solo debut, matching the uplift of his full-time band at their most dramatic. 8.1 - pitchfork |
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lithe, lush pop… retains an inimitable singer’s sound but adds oxygen-rich breathing room. **** - spin magazine |
brims with moments of aural salvation 82% - filter magazine |
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go is, at its strongest, an album of almost lung-collapsing loveliness. 9/10 - drowned in sound |
replacing the abiding sense of melancholy you get from sigur ros albums with a child-like joyousness that dares you not to break out in a huge grin ***** - the times |
