The artsy wax paper insert, which contains not a single note,
symbol, or image but instead cute branch-like etchings, initially signifies, as
does the "blank" title of their third album, there's no clear point of
entry here. The listener is invited to become one with the ambience, a tranquil
setting on what is quickly revealed, a subtle atmospheric presence that's built
largely on the meditative journey of a mind at rest, free to wander, explore,
and transmit emotions to the external subject. Hailing from Iceland, sections of
the map commonly associative with depressed elements where stark reality
transforms into a portrait of bitterness, Sigur Ros (Victory Rose) opts to lift
the spirit on a flight skyward toward the expanse of aspiration with an
appreciative nod toward natural beauty.
Led by Jonsi Birgisson's vocal intimacy and intermittence,
similar of Smashing Pumpkins' lighter fare and Corgan's croon in general, his is
the small dose of humanity that cuts through the echo of a faded material
presence slowly giving way to the calling spirit. By design, Sigur's music is a
step beyond the norm; Their parenthetic title insured confusion upon first
glance, while the eight songs within, of considerable individual length, and
will doubtlessly do the same; Indulge in a relaxing combination of worldly aural
textures and beckoning chants combining New Age aesthetics and cinematic effects
with the occasional Isis-like phenomenon where calmness crashes in a sea of
percussive turbulence, momentarily offsetting the mild, then return
tranquility.
It's a beautifully done connecting body of work that on its
own is an acquired taste, yet an essential backdrop to so many accepted forms of
popular music from Classical to Modern Rock that commonly influences countless
listeners who'd never yet been made aware - pay particular attention toward the
end, tracks seven and eight, where the passages really get interesting.
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