• News

• All

Jun 15, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Tim Dunk

Yesterday, Iceland’s Sigur Rós announced that their previously teased new album would be titled ÁTTA and was due out digitally today. Now that it’s out you can stream the whole thing here. Listen below, followed by the bands of the band’s sold out tour performing with a 41-piece orchestra in both North America and Europe.

A physical release will follow on September 1 via BMG. The album includes “Blóðberg,” a new song the band shared on Monday via a music video.

ÁTTA is the band’s first album in a decade and sees the return of multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson, who left the band in 2012, but has since rejoined. The band’s lineup also features frontman Jónsi and bassist Georg Holm. The album features the London Contemporary Orchestra, as conducted by Robert Ames (both the Orchestra and Ames will be part of the band’s European tour dates, with Ames conducting the Wordless Music Orchestra on their North America tour).

ÁTTA was partially recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London, as well as at the band’s Sundlaugin studio in Iceland and at various studios in America. Paul Corley mixed and co-produced the song with the band. Longtime Icelandic collaborators Brassgat í bala performed brass on the album.

Hólm had this to say about ÁTTA in a press release: “This record sounds like a Sigur Rós album, but it’s more introverted than before. It’s very expansive with this sound of strings, but it looks within more than outside.”

Jónsi adds: “When we do this, we always talk about each album as if it might be the last. We’re always thinking about climate change, doom-scrolling and going to hell. The world felt a bit bleak making this album, but maybe there is hope. When there is darkness, there is light.”

Sveinsson also says: “We wanted to allow ourselves to be a bit dramatic and go far with these arrangements. The world needs that right now. It’s hard to describe, but for me everything is always open to interpretation. People can think and feel how they want.”

Back in March, when the tour dates were announced, the band teased the release of a new album to come out this month, but no details were announced at the time.

Sigur Rós’ last studio album was 2013’s Kveikur, although last year they put out a 20th anniversary reissue of their 2002 album (). In 2020, the band’s Jónsi released his first solo album in 10 years, Shiver. Read our interview with him about the album.

Sigur Rós Tour Dates:

6/16 London, UK — Royal Festival Hall - SOLD OUT
6/17 Amsterdam, Netherlands — Concertgebouw - SOLD OUT
6/18 Hamburg, Germany — Elbphilharmonie - SOLD OUT
7/3 Paris, France — Philharmonie Main Hall - SOLD OUT
8/14 Toronto, ON — Roy Thomson Hall - SOLD OUT
8/16 New York City, NY — Beacon Theatre - SOLD OUT
8/18 Brooklyn, NY — Kings Theatre - SOLD OUT
8/19 Boston, MA — Wang Theatre - SOLD OUT
8/21 Minneapolis, MN — State Theatre - SOLD OUT
8/24 Seattle, WA — The Paramount Theatre - SOLD OUT
8/26 Berkeley, CA — The Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley - SOLD OUT
8/27 Los Angeles, CA — The Greek Theatre - SOLD OUT

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.