Sigur Rós conjures visceral images of snow-streaked landscapes, panoramic vistas of ice-capped mountains, and rough-hewn Earth surfaces - and their music accompanies them with stark perfection. This Icelandic quartet's fourth LP studio album might well be their momentous masterpiece, yet calling that would outshine the brilliance that came before TAKK... ("Thanks..." in Icelandic), with the rough beauty of AGAETIS BYRJUN and the compelling wordless, lyricless (). TAKK... is a complex harmony of music, haunting, beautiful, serene, overwhelming, invigorating, epic, to which any thesaurus would surely give up to express the perfection of this music. And this album is one of the very bests I've heard in my whole humanly existence.


And that's what makes Sigur Rós one of the most important bands exist in history, for they're not only a band, but a band of musicians. And who says English is the official language of music. Music itself is the language of music. Sigur Rós transcends language barriers and cultural ethos to wholly capture expressions that words aren't enough to gesticulate. This is the identity that Sigur Rós can be proud of, and their music is certainly one of the most important in the modern world. It makes us ponder our very own existence. Even Coldplay, one of the world's biggest bands, is an enormous fan of Sigur Rós, the likes of Brad and Angelina are their followers, Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter Apple arrived into this world with the tune of Hoppipolla - who could not be enraptured with Sigur Rós's testament of beauty and pathos, beautiful and tragic altogether.


From its wordless opener "Takk..." to the rythmic beat of "Glosoli" followed by the stunning, operatic, marvelous grandeur of "Hoppipolla" and its emotional sequel "Meo Blodnasir", you'll know this album is out of the ordinary. Yet the sheer brilliance doesn't end there, as it carries on with "Se Lest" and "Saegopur", songs which are emboldened with loneliness, subtlety and grace. And there are more delights in this collection of symphonies, like treasures to your ears. Without a doubt, Sigur Rós is one of the most important post-rock heroes to have ever surfaced musical history, since Pink Floyd.



VERDICT:

This is a magical album. Quite extraordinary. Sigur Rós makes that music that makes you feel strangely alive. This is music at its most moving.