Sigur Rós has a new album due May 29 called Valtari. While fans of the Icelandic band are no doubt rejoicing, I am worried. Well, happy, sure – I like the band very much. But I anticipate that upcoming moment when I listen and then try to think/not think. If that sounds confusing, let me explain.
Back when I was first introduced to Sigur Rós, I was in a dark place. Life had taken an unexpected turn that only time was sure to cure. The record was called (), and that lack of title and song titles fit my mood. At one time I would probably have been drawn to music more closely associated with my particular hurt, but this time I just liked the opportunity to get lost. Well, more like wallow alone in hopelessness.
Eventually life moved on, and so did the band, releasing more music that I found hard to listen to for a while. I would associate it with those nasty days, and I didn’t want to go back there. So I took a break.
And then came the album and film Heima. I went to a screening of the documentary that followed the band around Iceland as they toured their home country, thanking fans for their support. And when I listened to the record, I imagined those images. The spell was broken. I really liked Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, too, the band’s followup album.
Then in 2008, I saw the band live. I was lucky enough to get a single ticket up in the back row of a beautiful venue. And since I had no one to talk to, I closed my eyes for much of it and imagined the fjords.
But is that the way to listen to music, I wondered? I’m not a musician so I don’t listen the way someone who makes music listens. I like words and stories and encapsulated emotional journeys. What am I to think about while listening to Sigur Rós?
“Valtari” is Icelandic for “steamroller.” Interestingly, the band Buffalo Springfield named itself after (the manufacturer of) a steamroller that was parked outside the house of record producer Barry Friedman, whom two of the band members were living with at the time.
Perhaps there is something to this machinery that levels surfaces. Maybe that’s what Sigur Rós does with its music. Maybe I just need to imagine my bumpy, over-thinking mind crushed into a smooth and open road.
That’s where I’m headed with Valtari, with maybe a few fjords thrown in for the journey.
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Icelandia: Nordic music from the Winnipeg New Music Festival