The captivating SIGUR RÓS will make the long journey from Reykjavik to Australia’s Byron Bay where they will be one of the headline acts at Splendour In The Grass this August. Secret Sounds can now announce that the Icelandic quartet will also perform two very special satellite concerts in Melbourne and Sydney on Friday 1st August and Saturday 2nd August respectively.
‘Ethereal’ is the word most used to describe the beauty of SIGUR RÓS. They’ve been dubbed everything from a minimalist chamber quartet to an otherworldly hybrid of Radiohead and Brian Eno. Yet in their 14-year career, the internationally acclaimed, platinum selling act has managed to defy both musical categorisation and rock n’ roll convention. Such is their following that tickets to shows on their previous Australian tours have quickly sold out, yet the name SIGUR RÓS may not immediately leap to mind. Chances are you’ll recognise their music from popular television series CSI and 24 along with feature films Vanilla Sky and Children of Men who have all featured their gorgeous, atmospheric sounds. Fans and music aficionados will be quick to tell you that live, SIGUR RÓS is an experience not to be missed.
SIGUR RÓS return to Australia for the first time since the 2007 release of their first-ever film and companion album.
Filmed over two weeks in the summer of 2006 when the band undertook a free tour of Iceland, Heima stands as a colossal labour of love typical of this most exacting of bands. Directed by Oscar nominated director Dean Deblois (lilo & stitch), Heima documents this already legendary tour with intimate reflections from the band and a handful of new acoustic performances.
More art-house movie than Rattle and Hum, the film's meditative evocation of Iceland's people and terrain – (‘heima’ is Icelandic for ‘home’ or ‘homeland’) leaves little doubt about how SIGUR RÓS came to be a product of its environment - a place where quiet is the new loud.
While the band tour off the back of the Heima companion album Hvarf-Heim, there is also the promise of new material. While details remain shrouded in mystery SIGUR RÓS have been locked away in Abbey Road’s studio one recording a track with a boy’s choir and 67-piece orchestra. In a newspaper interview the band’s drummer has revealed that the album’s sound is considerably different than on their previous albums, which is said to be nearly completed and ready for release.
With majestic songs that often threaten to overwhelm the listener with their beauty, don’t miss the evocative SIGUR RÓS in their only Australian headline concerts this year.