The SoundBite

Sigur Rós - Odin's Raven  Magic It’ s been seven years since Sigur R ó s’ last studio album,  Kveikur , and in that time the band has remained notoriously quiet. While it seemed unlikely that any of the group’s members would be producing  any  music amongst the worldwide lockdown, we still managed to get a new album from lead singer and guitarist  Jónsi Birgisson  and something of a return from the group itself.  Sigur R ó s’ “new album” was, in reality, an almost twenty-year-old recorded orchestral piece from a project they conceived at the height of their creative and popular success. Odin’s Raven Magic  takes its name from a piece of Norse mythology in the Edda, an ancient Icelandic poem. The story goes that Odin, upon seeing signs of impending disaster, sends his ravens to find out what’s going on, only to return empty-handed – at which point the god’s hold a giant banquet. That may sound confusing and unfortunately, this is the type of a...

Jónsi - Shiver Ten years ago Jónsi, Sigur Rós’ distinctive frontman, released his debut solo album Go . Hotly anticipated at the time, it served to expose the post-rock luminary to a wider audience, and for the most part, was pretty successful. Now, with the help of in-demand producer A.G. Cook, Jónsi is tapping into a very different kind of pop music. Cook is the head of PC Music, the English record label behind some of the weirdest and most inventive music of the last decade. Jónsi’s move is a savvy one, picking the guiding force behind the hyper pop of Charli XCX, Hannah Diamond, and 100 gecs and cementing himself among a growing trend. Shiver is undeniably a Jónsi album, but Cook looms large over every track. Usually, that’s a good thing, Cook is often able to refine his sound and back up the singer in simple sufficiency. But on “Wildeye” and “Swill” in particular, his production is laid on so heavy, it clashes with Jónsi’s marked emotion. Besides Cook, Shiver features two other...