Sigur Rós’s third album, and for many the most quintessentially “Sigur Rós” record, celebrates its 20th anniversary today, October 28, 2022. The album has been remastered by legendary mastering engineer Ted Jenson at Sterling Sound, who also mastered every Sigur Rós album from Takk onwards.
( ) is the only album where Jónsi sings entirely in the wordless lyrics of Hopelandic. A desire to elide meaning and allow the listener to bring their own interpretation to the music extends to each of the album’s eight songs, all of which are nameless. The record is broadly divided into two halves, divided by a critical 36 seconds of silence.
The first half of the album is light and optimistic, the second half bleak and melancholic – culminating in the thundering climax of Untitled #8, the closing song of every Sigur Rós show since it was written in 2000.
The band are in the process of writing and recording their first new studio album since 2013’s Kveikur and will air new songs at the shows, alongside material drawn from their acclaimed 25 year discography. Sigur Rós founding members Jónsi and Georg Holm are joined in the studio and on tour by former member Kjartan Sveinsson, who is rejoining the band almost a decade after stepping away to focus on other projects.
Catch them live on tour in Europe in November:
October 30, 2022 Jahrhunderthalle – Frankfurt, Germany
November 1, 2022 – AFAS Live – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
November 2, 2022 – Forest National – Brussels, Belgium
November 4, 2022 – Zénith – Paris, France
November 5, 2022 – Zénith – Paris, France
November 7, 2022 – O2 Apollo – Manchester, United Kingdom
November 8, 2022 – O2 Apollo – Manchester, United Kingdom
November 10, 2022 – O2 Academy Brixton – London, United Kingdom
November 11, 2022 – O2 Academy Brixton – London, United Kingdom
November 13, 2022 – The Royal Concert Hall – Nottingham, United Kingdom
November 14, 2022 – SEC Armadillo – Glasgow, United Kingdom
November 15, 2022 – Usher Hall – Edinburgh, United Kingdom
November 17, 2022 – 3Arena – Dublin, Ireland
November 25, 2022 – Laugardalshöllin – Reykjavík, Iceland
