Jonsi Go

• Go Do
• Animal Arithmetic
• Tornado
• Boy Lilikoi
• Sinking Friendships
• Kolnidur
• Grow Till Tall
• Around Us
• Hengilas

Jón “Jónsi” Þór Birgisson is best known for his day job as the singer and guitarist of Sigur Rós, Iceland's best export since Björk. The band appears to be taking some time off after their successful 2008 album, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, but Jónsi's using the hiatus to diversify his portfolio. His first move was Riceboy Sleeps, an album of majestic ambient music recorded with his partner, Alex Somers, that retained all of his main band's epic bluster but none of the bowed guitar rock. Next up is the solo album. Go was co-produced by Birgisson and Somers with string arrangements by New York based indie rock it-composer Nico Muhly. Go is a chance for Jónsi distance himself from his trademarks; Hopelandic, his made-up language, is gone, and his castrato-sounding falsetto has been toned down considerably for this set of intricately arranged acoustic music. It's high time he branched out a little.

Abstract by Craig Jenkins