Released in 2013 through XL Recordings, ‘Kveikur’ (pronounced [ˈkveikʏr], ‘fuse’ or ‘candlewick’) is the seventh studio album from Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. It is the first album to be fully released through XL after the band departed EMI and Parlophone during the label’s acquisition by Universal Music Group in 2012. It is also the only album since their debut, ‘Von‘, not to feature Kjartan Sveinsson, following his departure in 2012 (instead featured as the album’s co-producer), and the last to feature drummer Orri Páll Dýrason before his departure in 2018. The cover is a photo by the Brazilian artist Lygia Clark. Kveikur sees a new direction taken by Sigur Rós, both musically and thematically: the band has described the album’s sound as “more aggressive” than any of their previous works. All tracks are sung in Icelandic, although Yfirborð contains some reversed words at the start, which can be considered Hopelandic. Kveikur was officially unveiled by the band and label XL Recordings on 22 March 2013. The album’s details, such as artwork, tracklist, and release date, were publicly announced, along with dates for the band’s corresponding tour. An EP, entitled ‘Brennisteinn’ and featuring lead single “Brennisteinn” and two Kveikur cuts (“Hryggjarsula” and “Ofbirta”) was also released on the same day to ticket holders of North American dates on the ‘Sigur Rós World Tour’. On the 11th of June the album was made available to stream live in its entirety online.
Singles
“Brennisteinn” was released as the lead single from Kveikur on 25 March 2013. The eight-minute music video for the song, directed by Andrew Huang, was released three days earlier during Kveikur’s unveiling on March 22.
“Ísjaki” was released as a radio-only single from the album a month later on 24 April 2013. The song was also released early for download on iTunes through Kveikur’s listing, before the album was released in June. The band also released an accompanying lyric video for the song on their YouTube channel on 2 April. The video is also notably the band’s first lyric video for a song since the band’s formation in 1994.
Tour
The band embarked on the ‘Sigur Rós World Tour’ in late 2012 and throughout 2013 in promotion of Kveikur. The 82-date tour visited Australia, South-East and East Asia, Europe and North America. The North American leg of the tour, which occurred in March and April, was supported by Oneohtrix Point Never and Tim Hecker. During the former legs of the tour, Kveikur tracks “Kveikur”, “Yfirborð”, “Hrafntinna”, and “Brennisteinn” had been played live. The band performed “Kveikur” on NBC late night talk show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon during the tour on 22 March 2013.
Kveikur, much like most of Sigur Rós’ releases, was met with generally positive reviews upon release.
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