[Review/Listen] – Sigur Rós – “Inni”

Sigur Rós never needed to put out a live album. The raw power of their LPs is enough to rank them among the greatest bands of all-time. But they put out a live album anyway, and it’s an impressive one at that. Recorded over two nights at Alexandria Palace, “Inni” and its accompanying film (directed by Vincent Morisset) are stunning examples of Sigur Rós in all of their ambiguity, as a band that makes the music itself the center of the performance.

“Heima” was Sigur Rós’ first live film, a beautiful piece of art that details the band on a tour through their native country of Iceland, exploring beautiful, organic locales, sometimes playing acoustically. “Inni” feels like a whole different beast. It’s dark, claustrophobic, disorienting, and deeply rooted in Sigur Rós mysticism. The songs chosen here are much darker. For instance, “Svefn-g-englar”, “Ný batterí”, “E-Bow”, and “Popplagid” make up the centerpieces of the album, and rightfully so. They are dense, monolithic pieces of sound and emotion, executed flawlessly by the band.

The band is at the top of their game, with frontman Jónsi‘s cello-bowed guitar a cornerstone of the band’s performance, a distinguished trademark of their show. It resonates like any lead instrument should, stealing the show on almost the entire first half of the album. Absent Amiina, Sigur Rós’s supporting string quartet, only the core band remains on stage. The band plays here without studio trickery: just four men making beautiful music in all it’s glory. They make each song unique; sometimes rearranging them for live performance. The effect is simply amazing. Although “Inni” contains many songs from the band’s most recent release “Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust”, they are certainly overshadowed by the band’s earlier, more meandering and darker pieces. Songs from “Ágætis byrjun” and “( )” and even “Hafssól” from Sigur Rós’ debut “Von” are certainly centerpieces; true musical gold.

Watching the film is a necessity. It complements the performance directly, offering viewers a unique look at Sigur Rós. The band describes the process of altering the original footage that makes “Inni” so interesting: “The film’s atmosphere is enhanced by Morisset’s re-filming of the original digital footage on 16mm, which was then re-filmed again, sometimes through prisms and other found objects, allowing “Inni” to look and feel like something recovered from the past.” The results are intriguing, with objects briefly obscuring or blurring the action on screen.

Sigur Rós are a stunning quartet, and this live album does them justice. Along with the accompanying film, “Inni” makes for a post-rock tour-de-force, reigniting my love for Sigur Rós and my belief that good music lives on despite all odds.

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