Jonsi - Go

Thu 8th Apr, 2010 in Music Reviews

Few terms lower my expectations as much as the words ‘solo debut’. For every successful breakaway artist, there are countless metres of shelf space occupied by solo albums that are unwanted, unoriginal or cynically playing on past glory.

After Riceboy Sleeps, the debut from Sigur Ros and partner Alex Somers, fans could also be forgiven for some wariness in approaching Go. Superficially pretty, Riceboy Sleeps had no sense of direction, and confirmed for the Sigur Ros sceptics that the Icelandic band are little more than Enya for the indie set.

Thankfully, Go is miles from ambient indulgence. Its slowest moments, as the album winds down, are reminiscent of Takk’s airy grandeur, but many tracks have no precedent in the Sigur Ros catalogue.

From the very outset, Go Do flutters with IDM vocal-tweaks and a whimsical wind arrangement, courtesy of in-demand composer Nico Muhly, before Animal Arithmetic skitters into life, giddy with the first blush of love as Jonsi breathlessly sings of “riding bikes, making out”.

If Sigur Ros is a band that paints grand visions in monochromatic palettes, Go is a burst of vibrant colour, reaching its peak in the transcendent Boy Lilikoi. From a twinkle reminiscent of Glosoli, it builds into a firework explosion of percussion and shimmering harmonies, reaching one shimmering crescendo after another until it finally resolves with a hair-raising flourish of strings and cymbals.

To say that Go is an excellent solo album is unfair; it is an excellent album that withstands comparison not only to the Sigur Ros back-catalogue, but also to anything that has been released in recent years. Like Thom Yorke’s The Eraser, Go offers a wonderful new perspective on a creative mind, and hopefully hints at new territory to be explored.