Search - Sigur Ros :: Saeglspur (W/Dvd) (Dig)

Sæglópular

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 08/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's only been a year since Sigur Ros's last full-length album "Takk," and yet... somehow I miss them.



Fortunately, to tide fans over, Sigur Ros has released "Sæglópur," an EP with accompanying DVD, as a sort of sequel to "Takk." It's not mind-blowing, but it is a pleasant little collection that fans will enjoy as they await whatever sonic prettiness Sigur Ros will create in future.



The title track opens with some odd creaks and croaking noises, as if someone left the mike out in the grass at night. Then the delicate, airy piano melodies begin, following Sigur Ros's pattern of slow buildup and expansive middle section -- the epic sonic sweep of "Sæglópur" is only upped by the dreamy outro that fades away.



It's followed by similarly pretty songs that are very much in their past style -- the low-key "Refur," which is barely long enough to count as a full song, and the hesitant violin shimmers of the eerie "O Fridur," which may be the most inventive song here. The EP finally rounds off with the lulling, ambient "Kafari," which almost sent me to sleep.



If anything critical can really be said, it's that "Sæglópur's" songs would work better as part of an album, rather than as odds and ends. But taken for themselves, the songs are quite nice and pretty, with that eerie, icy edge that Sigur Ros have turned into a trademark, along with Jonsi's otherworldly vocals and not-in-any-real-language singing.



The DVD includes three music videos: "Glosoli"opens with a drummer boy sitting by the seashore, and whose drumming draws other children to follow him over the snowy fields and mountains of Iceland, to a Peter Pannish finale -- which would sound trite normally, but which is done with an innocent sense of wonder.



"Hoppipola" is a sort of hand-cam video, and the weakest of the three -- basically a gang of old people acting like little children, though it has its cute moments (like that little kiss). And "Sæglópur" is the darkest of them, with sort of a twisted magical-realism/horror vibe. And an octopus.



This is basically a few odds and ends left over, but it's quite well done, and the music videos are a nice accompaniment. A nice addition for fans of the band."