Just in time for the launch of their North American tour and the band’s biggest New York show yet–a stop at Madison Square Garden on Monday–Sigur Rós have announced their swiftly-recorded follow-up to last year’s Valtari album. Due out June 18th through XL, Kveikur was described as a “more aggressive” direction for the group in an Ask Me Anything interview a couple months ago. And sure enough, the lead single (“Brennisteinn”) sounds like a bitter, brutish struggle between Jónsi’s familiar falsetto and a decidedly heavy backdrop that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Fear Factory song. The loss of multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson suddenly makes perfect sense–unlike the glacial grooves of ( ) or the major chord melodies of Með suð à eyrum við spilum endalaust, the power trio version of Sigur Rós appears to be channeling the very same shock-to-your-system vibes that once made people pass out at their shows. Only now they’re apparently soundtracking the end of the world.
Hear/see what we mean down below…
Sigur Rós, Kveikur:
1. Brennisteinn
2. Hrafntinna
3. Isjaki
4. Yfirbord
5. Stormur
6. Kveikur
7. Rafstraumur
8. Bláprádur
9. Var
Sigur Rós tour dates:
3/24 Washington, DC – Patriot Center *
3/25 New York, NY – Madison Square Garden *
3/26 Boston, MA – Agganis Arena *
3/27 Montreal, Quebec – Bell Centre *
3/29 Ottawa, Ontario – Scotia Bank Place *
3/30 Toronto, Ontario – Air Canada Theatre Bowl ^
4/1 Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre ^
4/2 Chicago, IL – UIC Pavilion ^
4/3 St. Paul, MN – Roy Wilkins Auditorium ^
4/4 Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre ^
4/6 Denver, CO – 1st Bank ^
4/8 Dallas, TX – Verizon Theatre ^
4/9 Houston, TX – Bayou Music Center ^
4/10 Austin, TX – Cedar Park Center ^
4/12 Phoenix, AZ – Comerica ^
4/13 Indio, CA – Coachella
4/16 Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre
4/17 San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic ^
4/19 Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl ^
4/20 Indio, CA – Coachella
5/10 Jakarta, Indonesia – Istora Senayan
5/14 Tokyo, Japan – Nippon Budokan
5/15 Nagoya, Japan – Zepp Nagoya
5/16 Fukuoka, Japan – Zepp Fukuoka
5/17 Osaka, Japan – Kobe World Memorial Hall
5/19 Seoul, South Korea – Olympic Gymnastics Arena
5/21 Hong Kong, China – Asia World Arena
5/25 George, WA – Sasquatch Music Festival
5/26 Bend, OR- Les Schwab Amphitheater
5/27 Burnaby, British Columbia – Deer Lake Park
6/19 Dresden, Germany – Junge Garde
6/21-22 Scheesel, Germany – Hurricane Festival
6/21-22 Neuhausen, Germany – Southside Festival
6/23 Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands – Best Kept Secret Festival
6/25 Warsaw, Poland – Sowinskiego Ampitheatre
6/28 St. Gallen, Switzerland – Openair
6/30 Cornwall, England – Eden Project
7/4 Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter
7/6 Roskilde, Denmark – Roskilde Festival
7/14 Joensuu, Finland – Ilosaarirock Festival
7/18 Ostrava, Czech Republic – Colours of Ostrava
7/20 Salacgriva, Latvia – Positivus Festival
7/26 Ferrara, Italy – Piazza Castello
7/27 Lucca, Italy – City Square
7/28 Rome, Italy – Ippodromo delle Capannelle
8/30 Cheshire, England – Jodrell Bank
8/31 North Dorset, England – End of the Road Festival
11/16 Dublin, Ireland – O2 Arena
11/19 Nottingham, England – Nottingham Arena
11/20 Brighton, England – Brighton Centre
11/21 London, England – Wembley Arena
11/23 Luxembourg City, Luxembourg – Rockhal
11/24 Frankfurt, Germany – Jahrhunderthalle
11/25 Dusseldorf, Germany – Mitsubishi Electric Hall
11/27 Malmo, Sweden – Baltiska Hallen
11/28 Oslo, Norway – Spektrum
* with Tim Hecker
^ with Oneohtrix Point Never
