Now, I love Sigur Ros, and I genuinely want to see them succeed and get their amazing music out to the masses. The previous 3 albums, remix project and random soundtracks and eps have all been some of the most interesting pop records of recent times. Yet If Takk, the band's fourth record, turned out to be completely crap...I would not hesitate to stomp on it in my size 10 doc martins... I don't want to see the band get lazy and churn out more of the same old same old. And believe me, I have been getting ready to perform this act of blasphemy after hearing the Glossoli download single...The album starts off with the aforementioned song, after a brief intro, and...well... I will be honest and say it is increasingly growing on me. And I guess for this album, which will probably end up being their biggest selling and most widely known record, its a fine opener. It is impressive, but its nothing new. As the album progresses, its tinkly pianos and pounding drums and Jonsi's usual voice. And... its all very nice. If a bit bland. Live favorite Milano never really gripped me live and on record it isn't too great either. Saeglopur is certainly one of the stand out songs, along with Gong. Each one nothing entirely new, but it feels like a revert back to better times.
Sigur Ros of late seem to be getting very generic and formulaic. Many of the songs on Takk consist of piano tinklings and the smurf-like vocals used on Vaka. And, well..it is nice and it is pretty and it is different, but it is still the same as what they have done before. Something feels missing from the album. Agaetis Byrjún had such am amazing feel to it, a feel that was lost slightly with ( ) and demolished with Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do.
Two of the tracks also have two parts, both of which feel totally unecessary. Maybe if they had replaced these two with the live version of Hafssol the album would have been a different animal altogether.
I don't know, maybe Takk is just too proggy. Something seems to have gone amiss in the Sigur Ros camp, I don't want to hear the same old music, and Takk is a step away from ( ) but its not necessarily a step forward. This is not a bad album by any means, its just...maybe something more was expected from the band.
Still, I don't think I will be stomping on the cd... not just yet anyway.
