Artist: Jonsi

TitleGo

Grade: C+

Hooray! The Sigur Rós frontman – famed for singing in the made-up ‘Hopelandish’ language – introduces some English lyrics to the songs of earlier albums. We can finally understand what they’re singing about –though this does detract from the warmth of singing in a different language and having to guess meaning by tone and mode alone.

Altogether Go is a very musically loose album, with drums rumbling and leaping through light-playing flutes, warming strings and a vocal line with collapsing harmonies. It is hardly a coincidence that Sigur Rós consider themselves to be of the pop genre. Applauds must also go to composer Nico Muhly for his well-placed and delicate arrangements throughout some of the instrumentally-heavy pieces.

In a nutshell: Fun, playful, innocent and vibrant. Not as sad as others – more of a mixed bag really.