Sigur Rós - Ágætis Byrjun

Ágætis Byrjun is the second studio album by Icelandic avant-rock band Sigur Rós, originally released in June 1999 via Fat Cat Records.

In the two years since their debut ‘Von’, the band recruited a new keyboardist and it seemed to do nothing but take the band to an even higher state of self-awareness. Even on aesthetic matters, Sigur Rós entitle their sophomore effort not in a manner to play up the irony of high expectations, but in a modest realisation.

Ágætis Byrjun translates roughly to Good Start. So as talented as ‘Von’ might have been, this time out is probably even more worthy of dramatic debut expectations. Indeed, Ágætis Byrjun pulls no punches from the start.

After an impressive introduction, the album pumps in the morning mist with "Sven-G-Englar", a song of such accomplished gorgeousness that one wonders why such a tiny country as Iceland can musically outperform entire continents in just a few short minutes.

The rest of Ágætis Byrjun follows such similar quality. Extremely deep strings underpin falsetto wails from the mournfully epic ("Viðar Vel Tl Loftárasa") to the unreservedly cinematic ("Avalon"). One will constantly be waiting to hear what fascinating turns such complex musicianship will take at a moment's notice. At its best, the album seems to accomplish everything lagging post-shoegazers like Spiritualized or Chapterhouse once promised.

Rarely has a sophomore effort sounded this thick and surprising. Which means that "Good Start" might as well become of the most charming understatements to come out of a band in years.

This double album 2LP record set is a 2021 reissue on black vinyl housed in a single pocket sleeve with printed inner sleeves, pressed in Europe via Krunk.