Sigur Rós are set to release their first album in a decade tomorrow

ÁTTA is Sigur Rós' first studio album since Kveikur, and sees multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson back in the fold – having left the band in 2012 – to join frontman Jónsi and bassist Georg Holm.

With just the three friends in a room, letting the mood speak to them, they found themselves “just wanting to have minimal drums and for the music to be really sparse, floaty and beautiful,” explains Jónsi.

“We’re getting older and more cynical so I just wanted to move us so that we felt something!” Sveinsson agrees: “We wanted to allow ourselves to be a bit dramatic and go far with these arrangements. The world needs that right now. It’s hard to describe, but for me everything is always open to interpretation. People can think and feel how they want."

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Recorded across multiple continents - in the band’s Sundlaugin studio in Iceland, the legendary Abbey Road in the UK and a number of studios in the US, ÁTTA prominently features the London Contemporary Orchestra conducted by Robert Ames, alongside brass performed by longtime Icelandic collaborators Brassgat í bala. It is mixed and co-produced by another frequent collaborator Paul Corley, alongside the band.

“This record sounds like a Sigur Rós album, but it’s more introverted than before. It’s very expansive with this sound of strings, but it looks within more than outside," says Hólm. "When we do this, we always talk about each album as if it might be the last,” he adds. “We’re always thinking about climate change, doom-scrolling and going to hell. The world felt a bit bleak making this album, but maybe there is hope. When there is darkness, there is light.”

Sigur Rós will celebrate ÁTTA with a limited run of very special dates, performing with a 41-piece orchestra for the first time across Europe and North America; all shows sold out in record time. The tour kicks off at Meltdown Festival in the UK on the day of album release, where the band will perform with the London Contemporary Orchestra, who also accompany them on their following European tour dates.

Tracklist:

1. Glóð
2. Blóðberg
3. Skel
4. Klettur
5. Mór
6. Andrá
7. Gold
8. Ylur
9. Fall
10. 8