Coming out of a hiatus Sigur Rós returned to our ears last year with the unusually languid Valtari which moved through restrained almost soporific moodscapes. Since last year keyboard player Kjartan Sveinsson left the band, reducing Sigur Rós down to a bare bones three piece. Kveikur, which seems to have been recorded very quickly, strips away a lot of the ornamentation that Sveinsson used to add to the mix. The delicacy of Valtari is washed away in favour of a heavier guitar approach. This is perhaps best exemplified on the album's heavy opener Brennisteinn, which finds Jónsi drifting ethereally like a guiding light over the heavy metallic churn of sinister guitars. As Kveikur progresses, the band move beyond the menace of the album's cover and surprisingly start dealing songs that seem to converge on working a format that goes pop.
While their previous albums seemingly brought together Iceland's volcanic fire and glacial ice to create drama and tension, this album leaves behind those wildly crashing instrumental moments to let Jónsi work it verse and chorus. Perhaps the album's highlight Rafstraumur refashions all the familiar discordant post rock elements into a brilliant pop hooks that are instantly accessible. Everything neatly arranges itself around Jónsi's angelic vocals, which after all these years remain thrilling. As Kveikur comes into full bloom it recalls the upbeat dreamy optimism of Jónsi's solo album Go more than anything else Sigur Rós have recorded. Perhaps now quite a different band to the one that Tommy Lee once liked to listen to in a foetal position, Sigur Rós seem to have entered an entirely new phase of their recording career.
