Sigur Rós have always made grand, evocative music. Now they’re doing it with orchestras
Sigur Rós's Georg Holm, Kjartan Sveinsson, and Jónsi Birgisson tour capital cities in May, performing alongside local orchestras. (Supplied)
You never forget your first time hearing Sigur Rós. Their evocative, ethereal compositions sound unlike anybody else — a mix of post-rock grandeur, ambient soundscapes and neo-classical that manages to feel epic yet intimate.
Twenty-six years after their groundbreaking second album, Ágaetis Byrjun (translation: A Good Beginning), made them Iceland's biggest sonic export since Björk, Sigur Rós continue to spellbind audiences with music that's difficult to categorise but easy to be swept up in.
This week, they bring the magic back for an Australian tour that sees the group accompanied by a full-scale orchestra.
"We always wanted to do a show with a full orchestra, but we never really wanted to do the kind of classic 'band and orchestra show'," bassist Georg Holm tells Double J's Karen Leng.
There's a long history of rock bands teaming up with orchestras, from Deep Purple to Metallica and Kiss, but Holm explains Sigur Rós aimed for a subtle difference — being absorbed into the wider ensemble as opposed to just fronting it.
"Every night has been a collaboration," says Holm, and what began as an experiment, "with a few shows" in New York City with the Wordless Music Orchestra, has grown into a global trek featuring local orchestras in each city.
In Australia, Sigur Rós will be accompanied by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra, Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra for Vivid LIVE.
"We like the idea of working with local people everywhere we go because it gives the music something else … It's great to hear the nuances and different ways of how people express the music."
Touring with the band is conductor Rob Ames. "He is the glue. He puts everything together [and] it's a unique experience every night," Holm says.
"It is amazing how you have the music written down — it's on sheet music … and you would think it's like reading from a book. But it's like the book is in Latin.
"It's just like a universal language, no-one knows how to pronounce it, but the conductor is there to tell you how to pronounce it.
"Everyone will put something from themselves into it. It's fantastic!"
Having played in the US, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore already, Holm has "definitely noticed" the unique subtleties of each place and performance.
"[There are] differences in culture, and you do see how people react differently to your music. But I have to say, the old cliché of music being a universal language [has] a certain amount of truth."
Music that succeeds where words fail
In concert, the band's celestial textures and stirring songs often provoke intense emotional reactions from audiences.
"Through the years, we've kind of gotten used to that, people fainting and crying" Holm laughs. "I think it's absolutely amazing that people get a physical reaction to music."
The phenomenon reminds Holm of an anecdote from his late friend, British producer Ken Thomas, who worked on Ágaetis Byrjun and it's 2002 follow-up, ( ).
"He pointed out to us that the amazing thing about music is that it's just moving air. It is nothing else. You can't see music, and it is basically just air hitting your eardrums in different frequencies.
"I always find that amazing standing on stage. It's a bunch of musicians, and all we're doing is just creating a frequency that's moving air out into the audience. And the people out in the audience are getting a physical reaction to that.
"I think that's absolutely beautiful every time I think of that."
Despite the fact very few fans speak the Icelandic band's native tongue, it's never been a barrier to their success. In fact, frontman Jón Þór Birgisson — or simply, Jónsi, often sings in the fictional language of Hopelandic, and his extraterrestrial falsetto is a large part of the band's otherworldly appeal.
"The amazing thing about him is that he's just getting better. Obviously with age, voices change but it doesn't seem to happen to Jónsi. His voice just seems to be growing and getting better with the years."
Jónsi Birgisson co-founded Sigur Rós in 1994 with teenage friend Georg Holm. (Getty Images: Jeremychanphotography)
Reinventing the Sigur Rós experience
The catalyst for the current tour is the orchestral Átta (Icelandic for eight), the group's first album of original material since 2013's darker, louder Kveikur (translation: fuse/candlewick).
"It didn't really feel like a whole decade between records … I didn't realise it until someone pointed it out to me," remarks Holm.
The band's parts were mostly recorded in Los Angeles before they linked up with the London Contemporary Orchestra at the legendary Abbey Road studios.
"We've worked at Abbey Road a few times before, and it's always such an honour to be in that studio," Holm says. "The history there, the people that work there are fantastic, and obviously the equipment is just unique."
Significantly, Átta is also Sigur Rós’s first album since the return of multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson (who departed before Kveikur's release). "He was instrumental — excuse the pun — in getting this whole thing together," adds Holm.
Sveinsson — with the assistance of Ames and his wife Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir of Icelandic group (and frequent Sigur Rós collaborators) Amiina — wrote orchestral arrangements for the tour, including reworks of the band's older material.
"We thought it would be great to play some of the songs that we haven't played before, or that we have tried to play before, but we've never felt worked in a live environment," says Holm.
"Also, maybe some songs that would be interesting to sort of reinvent. It's a fantastic opportunity to have a whole big orchestra behind you. We looked at it as an opportunity to do something new, something fresh."
That includes 'Starálfur', a string-centric highlight from Ágaetis Byrjun, and the title track to 1997 debut album Von. The latter, reinvented version has delighted even Holm.
"We were playing in Taipei and a thought just popped into my mind when we were playing 'Von'. We haven't really played it in a long time [and] now we're playing it in a completely different way. So, what has surprised me is that [the songs] do have a life of their own. They do evolve."
Sigur Rós perform at the following dates:
Friday, May 16 – AEC Theatre: Kaurna Land, Adelaide
Saturday, May 17 – AEC Theatre: Kaurna Land, Adelaide (sold out)
Monday, May 19 – Hamer Hall: Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Land, Melbourne (sold out)
Tuesday, May 20 – Hamer Hall: Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Land, Melbourne (sold out)
Wednesday, May 21 – Palais Theatre: Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Land, Melbourne
Friday, May 23 – Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House: Gadigal Land, Sydney
Saturday, May 24 – Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House: Gadigal Land, Sydney
Sunday, May 25 – Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House: Gadigal Land, Sydney (sold out)
Tuesday, May 27 – QPAC Concert Hall: Turrbal Jagera Land, Brisbane (sold out)
Wednesday, May 28 – Open Season at QPAC Concert Hall: Turrbal Jagera Land, Brisbane