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Sigur Ros announce new album and free download


WEBWIRE

New Album: Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
(With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly)
Released: June 23rd 2008

Free Download: Gobbledigook
First play TONIGHT on BBC Radio One
Track available from www.sigurros.com


Sigur Rós will be releasing their fifth album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (English translation: With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly), on June 23rd, 2008 on EMI Records. The first song from the album, entitled Gobbledigook, will be unveiled with a world exclusive first play on BBC Radio 1 tonight (May 27th) by Zane Lowe. The track will then be available worldwide for free download, via www.sigurros.com from 7.30pm GMT.

A pre-sale for the album will begin on www.sigurros.com on June 2nd and the album will be available to stream in full from June 9th. A special deluxe edition of the album to be released later in the year, featuring a ‘Making Of…’ book, a film, and more, will also be available to pre-order on the band’s website as of June 2nd, in addition to a plethora of Sigur Rós goodies – exclusive clips, information on tickets for upcoming shows throughout the year etc. – which will be available to those who sign up for the mailing list on www.sigurros.com.

With A Buzz… was co-produced by the band and renowned producer Flood and was recorded in New York City (at Sear Sound Studios), London (at Assault and Battery Studios and Abbey Road), Reykjavík (at Álafoss, the band’s studio, as well as a church in Reykjavik) and Havana, Cuba. Whereas Sigur Rós’ last release – the critically-acclaimed tour film Heima, chronicling their free tour throughout Iceland – took the band to their homeland, their newest creation, With A Buzz…, is the first album in the band’s career to be made outside of Iceland. It is also their first album to feature vocalist Jón “Jónsi” Thor Birgisson’s vocals in English on one track (the remainder are sung in Icelandic).

Inspired by the unfettered feeling of the acoustic performances filmed during Heima, Sigur Rós decided to adopt a looser approach in the writing and creation of their brilliant fifth album. The material for the album was written, recorded and mixed entirely in 2008 and is being released just one month after completion. The album glows with the perfect imperfection of live takes, the sounds of fingers playing guitar strings, cracked notes, and a stark, upfront presence not found in previous Sigur Rós recordings, moving away from the reverb-induced guitar sounds of old to something altogether more fragile and affecting. It also contains some of the most joyous music the band has ever recorded.

First song Gobbledigook sets the tone for With A Buzz… with its shifting acoustic guitars, playful vocals, time signature shifts and swirling percussion, while Inni mer syngur vitleysingur (Within me a lunatic sings) sparkles as one of the most anthemic songs Sigur Rós have ever written. Festival is epic in its elation and scope, Illgresi (Weeds) features one of Jónsi’s finest vocal melodies over a lone acoustic guitar, and Ára bátur (Row boat) is the single largest musical undertaking in the band’s career, as it was recorded live in one take with the London Sinfonietta and London Oratory Boy’s Choir, a total of 90 people playing at the same time. The band also utilized the talents of their string-quartet friends Amiina, as well as a five-piece brass section on certain tracks, in addition to introducing the Mellotron into their writing/recording process for the first time on this album, specifically on one of the most tender and beautiful songs on the record, Fljótavík.

The spirit of With A Buzz… is best captured by the album’s stunning artwork, contributed by acclaimed visual artist Ryan McGinley. McGinley first met the band when he photographed Jónsi six years ago; the album cover was taken from a flyer for McGinley’s most recent exhibit, I Know Where The Summer Goes, which happened to find its way into Jónsi’s inbox just as the band was deciding on how to best visually represent their new collection of songs. The result is a perfect synergy of the aural and the visual.

The tracklisting for Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly) is…

1. Gobbledigook
2. Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
3. Góðan daginn
4. Við spilum endalaust
5. Festival
6. Með suð í eyrum
7. Ára bátur
8. Illgresi
9. Fljótavík
10. Straumnes
11. All alright

Sigur Rós will be playing shows all over the globe throughout the summer and autumn performing material from With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly, including their first ever UK festival headline appearance at Latitude Festival on July 19th.

Sigur Rós live dates

(NB – the majority of these dates are festival appearances):

June:
5 Guadalajara, Mexico – Teatro Degollado
7 Tepoztlan, Mexico – Festival La Colmena
8 Tijuana, Mexico – Multiculti
11 Omaha, USA – Orpheum Theatre
12 Kansas City, USA – Uptown Theatre
14 Manchester, USA – Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
16 New York, USA – Grand Ballroom, Manhattan Centre
20 Germany – Southside Festival
22 Bremen, Germany – Hurricane Festival

July:
5 Wechter, Belgium – Rock Werchter Festival
6 Arras, France – Main Square Festival
8 Vienna, Austria – Arena
9 Lausanne, Switzerland – Les Docks
11 Florence, Italy – Giardino Di Boboli
12 Rome, Italy – Cavea Auditorium
13 Milan, Italy – Arena Civica
14 Zurich, Switzerland – Volkhaus
17 Benicassim, Spain – Benicassim Festival
19 Suffolk, England – Latitude Festival

August:
1 Melbourne, Australia – Festival Hall
2 Sydney, Australia – Horden Pavillion
3 Byron Bay, Australia – Splendour In The Grass
7 Oslo, Norway – Øya Festival
8 Gothenburg, Sweden – Way Out West
9 Copenhagen, Denmark – Beat Day Festival
11 Cologne, Germany – Philharmonie
12 Wiesenbaden, Germany – Schlachthof
13 Berlin, Germany – Tempodrum
15 St. Malo, France – La Route Du Rock Festival
17 Biddinghuizen, Holland – Lowlands Festival
18 Dresden, Germany – Alter Schlachthof
19 Prague, Czech Republic – Arena HC Sparta Praha
20 Warsaw, Poland – Palladium
22 Riga, Latvia – Arena
24 Helsinki, Finland – Kulttuuritalo
26 St Petersburg, Russia – TYUZ Theatre
27 Moscow, Russia – B1
29 Stradbally, Ireland – Electric Picnic Festival
31 Inveraray, Scotland – Hydro Connect Festival

Further announcements of Sigur Rós headline tour dates around the world will be made soon.

Sigur Rós:

Jón Thor Birgisson (vocals, guitar), Georg Holm (bass),
Kjartan Sveinsson (keyboards/piano), Orri Páll Dýrason (drums).



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