Playlouder - Music is the Network

The sound of Sigur Rós’s new album Med Suð I Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, which translates as With A Buzz In Our Ears We Play Endlessly, was apparently inspired by the acoustic performances that made up their tour film Heima. The album was recorded during tight live takes with stripped down guitar and percussion arrangements, to create a more immediate, fragile kind of sound.

Alas, this is more interesting on paper then it does on record. Rather than use these different pieces to create a different whole, they’ve been used to create the same whole as before. If it took a great deal of effort to record it in this way, it was wasted. While some of the instruments are more distinguishable in the mix, the sound is very much the same; the production big and bold, each track building slowly to a big finish. And while there is noticeably less instrumentation used generally the orchestral backing is never far away, returning as it does on mid album epic Ára Bátur - apparently this was recorded in one live take, I’m afraid I didn’t notice.

In truth Med Suð… is business as usual for the band. That’s not such a bad thing, after all their sweeping soundscapes can be immensely uplifting and touching. The compositions are tighter, with less 7-8 minute songs, and the few that remain feel justifiably lengthy, not too drawn out as has been the case with some of their previous material. And then tucked away at the end there’s Straumnes and Alright, which do achieve some of that desired fragile feeling.

Med Suð… is worth listening to, but there is a lingering feeling that maybe this is a band that are beginning to run out of ideas. We can only hope that’s not the case, and that Meo Seo… is just a blip, and that there are still great things to come.