Jónsi - Go

I have been looking forward to Jónsi Birgisson's Go for quite some time now. Often times when I am excited for a new record I tend to be very upset when it does not live up to my expectations. However, this album lived up to all my expectations and then some.
“You grow from the inside,” sings Jónsi on the third track, “Tornado.” This line speaks wonders of Jónsi’s song construction. I was listening to an interview with Jónsi on NPR, in which Jónsi explained that the song "Animal Arithmetic" was first constructed on a single acoustic guitar and further lathered with instruments. In the end, he ended up just erasing the original acoustic track from the song. His music is exactly what Jónsi sings on “Tornado.” It grows from the inside; it takes pretty, simple melodies and glorifies them with stunning falsettos and instrumentation.

I was surprised with how much this album was not a Sigur Rós record. I mean, obviously Go is a Jónsi Birgisson record and not a Sigur Rós record, but I would find it hard to believe that most reviewers were expecting the length of this record. Go is about twenty five to thirty minutes shorter than all of his past records with Sigur Rós. I almost thought that I got only half the album, but when I found out that it was actually only forty minutes I was really impressed. This album is certainly Jónsi’s most pop accessible record to date. From “Go Do,” with its thumping bass drum to “Around Us,” the album is full of great pop music. However, the production is often as atmospheric as Jónsi’s albums with Sigur Rós.

“Go” is the perfect name for this record. It is demanding. Unlike, Ágætis Byrjun, the first big Sigur Rós album to make it in the United States (yeah… I can’t pronounce it either), which translates to “An Alright Start." Go demands a listen.

Rating: 85/100

Jónsi - "Go Do" 


- Greg