Takk., released in 2005, produced three singles, " Glósóli", " Hoppípolla" and " Sæglópur". One single was released from ( ), "untitled #1" (a.k.a. "Vaka"). The entire album is performed in Vonlenska, a constructed language. The album's title consists of two opposing parentheses it has no other official title, though members of Sigur Rós have referred to it as " Svigaplatan" (" The Bracket Album"). The group's third studio album, ( ), was released in June 2002, comprising eight untitled tracks divided by a 36-second silence. Gunnarsson left the band after Ágætis byrjun and was replaced by Orri Páll Dýrason. Two tracks were released from the album as singles: " Svefn-g-englar" and " Ný batterí". It reached number 1 on the Icelandic album chart, number 17 in Norway, and number 52 on the United Kingdom Albums Chart. Keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson joined the band in 1998 and a year later Ágætis byrjun was released. Only one track, "Leit af lífi", was new to the album. Von brigði was released in 1998 and features remixes of tracks from Von. It failed to chart, selling 313 copies in its first year of release, but was certified platinum in 2005 by Iceland's record industry association. Sigur Rós released their debut album, Von, in 1997 with Smekkleysa Records. Sigur Rós was formed in 1994 in Reykjavík, Iceland, by singer and guitarist Jón Þór Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm and drummer Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.The discography of Sigur Rós, an Icelandic post-rock group, consists of seven studio albums, three remix album, five extended plays, one soundtrack album, sixteen singles, twenty-three music videos and two video albums. So I'll shut up and leave the rest to you. It's early days yet and with music like this it's probably best to write about it after a year rather than a week or two of listening. Still, there's much of () that's immediately gorgeous in a way that defies description.
This may something to do with the songs having been in the live set for a while whereas the previous record sounded like the songs were conceived in impossible, studio mediated acoustic spaces, () seems more conventional, more linear. They seem more content to stretch out, unfolding their songs gradually. There's less of their wide-eyed wonder, more desperation at work (in short, more Thom Yorke than Elizabeth Fraser).
But after a few listens a bleaker, slightly rawer muse emerges, more reminiscent of Radiohead perhaps or even (on the last track) Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It's the same big, melting chords, swelling strings and bowed guitars, emotive climaxes and hushed comedowns, with tiny samples and environmental sounds hovering on the threshold of hearing. What they seem to be doing is stripping away all the trappings, leaving the music to exist on its own terms. But labelling Sigur Ros as pretentious sort of misses the point (they're hardly the White Stripes after all). No title, no track titles, a largely blank booklet, which seems rather arch considering these songs have been a feature of their live set for a good year or so and have had titles in that setting. So it's difficult third album time for the Icelandic quartet. As it turned out it was a slightly over modest title too, as its fragile, lush concoction of yearning, waif like vocals (sung in an invented language) and oceanic, slow motion prog rock won the hearts and minds of a good few of us (your humble reviewer included, who found it extremely hard to remove from the CD player for a good few months). It was quite a down to earth title for a record that sounded like it was constructed from the stuff of dreams. The title of Sigur Ros' second album Agaetis Byrjun translated as 'An Alright Start'.