Sigur Rós - ( )

Sigur Rós' 2002 album has no real name, and all the songs are also untitled. There are no actual lyrics, all the vocals are in a nonexistent language. The booklet consists of several blank pages the band encourages listeners to write their thoughts in. Taken altogether, ( ) can seem kind of pretentious. It doesn't really matter though, it's about the music and it's pretty great.

( ) has two distinct parts, a light first half and a more intense second half. The first half is all about atmosphere. There's a lot of piano, especially in the third track which has a nice plunking tune, while the rest of it is more ambient pleasantness. They use distorted guitar to create texture instead of melody, and it's very dissimilar from the music you're probably used to hearing. It's best to not try and listen to it in quick bursts, and instead have it on when you're doing something else or just relaxing.

Where I think the album gets really interesting is the second half. It focuses on the build and release of tension, and with the time they take to get where they're going they can really create immensely enjoyable moments throughout. It takes them quite a while to get to the point, but once they get there it can be a transcendent listening experience. Some of it sounds like Radiohead at their spaciest, but Thom Yorke and company rarely get as climactic. The various songs can seem sort of similar in the way they work up to the big moments, but it doesn't make it less interesting or powerful. After the seventh track it seems like it's winding down, but before the final song ends it breaks into the hardest guitar you'll find on the record in a very satisfying conclusion.

The use of drums is much more important in the second half, as they set the intensity level almost by themselves, along with how passionate the vocalist sounds. Back to him, he's pretty good but I have a bit of an issue. Just because he's singing in a fake language doesn't mean it can't get repetitive. He sings what sounds phonetically like "You sigh on" or some close variation nearly constantly throughout the whole thing, and it can get irritating if you pay too much attention to him. It is this minor annoyance plus the very long amount of time it takes to get to the really good moments that keep the album from being truly excellent, in my mind. One could argue that the buildup makes the eventual payoff even sweeter, but I think it's still an imperfect way to make music.