I had missed the big Sigur Ros phase seeming all of my friends went through a couple years ago and so I was totally content to ignore Icelandic singer/songwriter Jonsi's debut album Go that was released early last month despite the increasing number of magazine features, interviews, and reviews. All of that changed last week when I saw Jonsi perform the album's lead track "Go Do" on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Energetic and upbeat yet calm and tranquil at the same time, it's no surprise that I was almost immediately motivated to give the album a listen. Jonsi's intriguinglly colorful bird-inspired dress certainly didn't hinder my curiousity either (that and I'm a sucker for finely played ukelele). Go did not disappoint with downright rapturous arrangements by composer Nico Muhly that no doubt aid Jonsi's attention catching falsetto, and you certainly don't have to know anything about the Icelandic language or culture to enjoy the stunningly well-crafted record. I should mention Jonsi sings predominantly in English on this album but there are moments where he smoothly shifts between the two languages. After second track "Animal Arithmetic" and it's lighting-fast hyperactive intensity, the rest of the album maintains a steady (though in no way lethargic) calm. A favorite moment of my mine of the album is an instrumental melody in "Boy Lilikoi" that sounds like a melodic line from Le Loup's "Planes Like Vultures" (the repetitive "Oh this world was made for ending" line). Whether that was intentional or not remains to be seen but it's always nice when music syncs up like that. I heard in an interview that Jonsi had been working on several songs on the album for about 10 years, and while impressive I certainly hope it doesn't take that long before he delivers a follow-up album but if that's the price of such well-written music I think we can all wait.
Preview the album with video for lead/single track "Go Do":
Or you can stream the whole album at Jonsi's website:
http://www.jonsi.com/go#order
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