Formed in Reykjavik in 1994, the band consist of three multi-instrumentalists, all of whom apply various sounds to their unique ambient music. The trio of lead singer and guitarist Jón Þór “Jónsi” Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm and keyboard player Kjartan Sveinsson have released eight studio albums, each with titles in Icelandic to compliment the lyrics, which are split between their mother-tongue and their own type of non-linguistic vocalisations they’ve named “Vonlenska”. Their tracks can be picked out in films such as ‘Vanilla Sky’ and ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’, as well as television shows like ‘Game Of Thrones’ and the BBC’s ‘Planet Earth’.

The world tour has been running since February of last year, passing through Asia, Australia, a first route of Europe, and finally sweeping through North America in November. Each date has seen them perform 2023 album ‘Átta’ while forming a partnership with a 41-piece orchestra from the country they are visiting, supervised by conductor Robert Ames. Ames is co-principal conductor of the London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO), and has provided his conducting talents to Abbey Road Studios for recording film scores, including ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’, and Radiohead star Johnny Greenwood’s soundtrack to ‘Phantom Thread’.

The new dates announced today are the final stage of the Orchestral World Tour, returning to the UK after the band played four nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall with Ames’ LCO in October 2025. Sigur Rós and Robert Ames will be playing ‘Átta’ in Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal and Germany between the 31st of August and the 21st of September. The full list of shows and the orchestras accompanying the group are below:

• 31/08 – Edinburgh, Scotland- Playhouse w/ Scottish Chamber Orchestra
• 02/09 – Glasgow, Scotland- SEC Armadillo w/ Scottish Chamber Orchestra
• 04/09 – Belfast, Northern Ireland- Waterfront Hall w/ Ulster Orchesta
• 06/09 – Dublin, Ireland- Bord Gáis Energy Theatre w/ Ulster Orchestra
• 07/09 – Dublin, Ireland- Bord Gáis Energy Theatre w/ Ulster Orchestra
• 09/09 – Lyon, France- Amphithéâtre 3000 w/ Orchestre de Chambre de Lyon
• 11/09 – Barcelona, Spain- Auditori Forum CCIB w/ Orquestra Simfònica del Vallés
• 13/09 – Porto, Portugal- Coliseu Porto Ageas w/ Orquestra Sinfonietta de Lisboa
• 15/09 – Bilbao, Spain- Palacio Euskalduna w/ Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa
• 17/09 – Lisbon, Portugal- Sagres Campo Pequeno w/ Orquestra Sinfonietta de Lisboa
• 20/09 – Berlin, Germany- Uber Eats Music Hall w/ The Young ClassX
• 21/09 – Berlin, Germany- Uber Eats Music Hall w/ The Young ClassX

Tickets for the shows go on sale this week, with general access opening on Friday the 20th of March at 10AM, and pre-sale options available from Wednesday the 18th all available here.

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The track was released with a video of the Icelandic band performing the Paris show over top the recorded single. The first single off the album, Dvergmal, featured a similar video and was released in October of this year.

Along with front-man Jonsi and bassist Georg Holm, Stendur æva features singer Steindor Andersen and other Icelandic artists such as Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson, Maria Huld and Markan Sigfusdottir. This will be the first full-length album from Sigur Rós in 7 years, having released Kveikur back in 2013.

The late 1990’s and early 2000’s saw the band a large amount of success via multiple UK and US tours, Grammy and Icelandic award nominations and many high-status television features such as London Summer Olympics, Planet Earth and Slum Dog Millionaire. These accomplishments were mostly due to the most successful song that the band has ever released, the 2005 single Hoppipolla. This track became a massive world-wide hit and still remains relevant even in 2020 when it featured on Netflix’s ‘Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga’.

In 2009 the band went on a four year hiatus while Jonsi pursued a solo-career with his debut album Go. By 2010 however, Jonsi announced at his solo Coachella performance that the band would be back together soon, by 2013 their latest album was released to critical praise and featured on the HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’.

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Since their latest full-length album Kveikur, the band has only released a series of mixtapes, re-releases or live sound-baths. A partial reason why Sigur Rós has not released a full-length album in 7 years is because of the multiple scandals they have been dealing with the last few years.

Original band member Dyrason was accused of sexual assault and resigned from the band in 2018 because of such allegations. The band also experienced a run in with the law for tax evasion, however after several tax suits their case was eventually thrown out in 2019.

Safety concerns around the Covid-19 global pandemic has kept the Icelandic band from scheduling any 2020 concerts or festivals around the UK. There is still no information on whether they will return to live in person shows to promote their upcoming album throughout UK or Ireland in 2021.

Stendur æva is now available for streaming and download and the music video can be seen on YouTube or the band’s social media. Odin’s Raven Magic is now available for pre-order or pre-save on all platforms.

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In the announcement, Birkett said that whilst originally the name had sought to embody his “respect and appreciation of [Native American] culture”, he had recently received an “eye-opening letter from a Crass fan that detailed precisely why the logo and label name are offensive”. Birkett did not relay these details in his own statement, though as the title was lifted from a 19th century minstrel song about “dark-skinned boys … never learning from experience”, and given the word ‘Indian’ was an exonym (and misnomer) White European invaders first applied to Native Americans, it’s easy to see why a term steeped in colonialism’s bloody legacy should be perceived as outdated.

Birkett went on to apologise “unreservedly to anyone that has been offended by the name and the logo”, saying that he “felt equally appalled and grateful” to the person who had made him aware of the name’s implications. It is of course worth noting that these implications have always existed; it is instead the public’s attitude towards testaments of Britain’s colonial history that has changed. When Birkett opened his statement with an acknowledgment that “the last few weeks have been a monumental learning curve”, it is more than likely that he was referring to initiatives such as Blackout Tuesday, as well as an open letter from Black British music executives, that have called for the music industry look inward at its own systemic racism.

One Little Independent’s previous logo.

Along with Sue Birkett and Tim Kelly, Derek Birkett first founded One Little Indian in 1985 as an independent record label based in Balham. One Little Indian arose from the ashes of Spiderleg Records, a short-lived anarcho-punk label that housed Birkett’s own band and partial namesake of Spiderleg’s successor, Flux of Pink Indians. Spiderleg began after the band had gotten to grips with releasing material after putting out their debut EP on the eponymous label run by fellow punk band Crass. Inspired by “the philosophies of the Indigenous People of the Americas”, Birkett and co. melded this outlook to the “DIY principles and anarchistic ideals” of their own punk origins, thus bringing One Little Indian to life. Their willingness to give “complete control to artists [they feel] deserve a shot at a wider audience” has helped enable the careers of Sigur Rós, They Might Be Giants, and most notably Björk. 

Read the full statement from One Little Independent here.

sigur rós present a liminal sound bath with Jónsi, Alex Somers & Paul Corley

the great oak stage, hyde park, london from 7pm tues july 9th / free event in association with Calm

tickets: https://t.co/7gH1ArKYpf@calm@iamjonsi@AlexSomersMusic@paulcorley@BSTHydeParkpic.twitter.com/ilEtKfGATr

— sigur rós (@sigurros) May 21, 2019

Sigur Ros first broke on to the music scene in 1999, with a very simple mission statement “We are not a band, we are music … We are simply gonna change music forever, and the way people think about music. And don’t think we can’t do it, we will.” Since then they have gone on to amass an incredible career and produced some of the most iconic songs in history.

Sigur Rós are set to perform at this year’s BST Hyde Park (for free!) https://t.co/m8YrxJBPe9 pic.twitter.com/QFQlr5pkIH — DIY (@diymagazine) May 21, 2019

Speaking on their live-shows Stereogum magazine describes them as “a transportive, communal experience, a sort of secular church service — instead of the Holy Spirit, we’re moved by the band’s intangible force, their delicate balancing act of violent aggression and hypnotic respite. It hardly matters whether Birgisson’s singing in gibberish  or his native Icelandic — at a Sigur Rós show, we’re all speaking in tongues”.

Writing in The Guardian fellow musician Muhly descrbied Sigur Ros as being at the forefront of an icelandic music revolution stating“The thing I love about Sigur Rós is it’s music that’s floating and music that’s on the grid. And there’s meaning that’s floating and meaning that’s on the grid.” and it’s these floating performances that fans can enjoy for free this 9th of July as part of British Summer Time at Hyde Park.

OPEN HOUSE IS BACK!
Free entry + activities
Mon 8 – Thu 11 July with:
@sigurros presents LIMINAL: Live ambient performance
Yoga @lululemonUK
Outdoor cinema
@theroyalparks Showcase
Barclaycard Sensorium
Street food market + more
ALL FREE!https://t.co/VucR7F2Kax pic.twitter.com/mh0XiyZS5P

— BST Hyde Park (@BSTHydePark) May 21, 2019

Sigur Ros aren’t the only band to be at BST this July however. The festival is set to be a huge event for over 70,000 people to see some of the most incredible and famous names in music. With a very clear focus and selection of bands the event is set to host an incredible array of music throughout July including “Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Florence + The Machine, Robbie Williams, Black Eyed Peas, Keane, Josh Groban, Claire Richards, The National & Lykke Li” With the support acts for each day focused around their headliner.  

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NEWSFLASH: #StevieWonder headlines Saturday 6 July with VERY special guest @lionelrichie for one epic Song Party! Barclaycard pre-sale starts NOW: http://barclaycard.co.uk/entertainment Our pre-sale starts 9am Thursday: https://www.bst-hydepark.com/newsletter/presale-sign-up/ … Tickets on sale 9am Friday Get ready! 

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The trailer for #BoyErased is finally here. Starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton & myself. Featuring ‘REVELATION’, an original song written by @LelandOfficial, Jónsi, & I. Couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this. In theatres this November! ❤️ ❤️ pic.twitter.com/TQhY4hcoAu

— troye sivan (@troyesivan) July 17, 2018

The song is definitely a winner. Fusing Jónsi’s post-rock approach with power pop sensibilities, Sivan’s distinctive high baritone is set against a rich ambient instrumental backing, comprising reverbed piano, cymbals and strings, before reaching a jubilant peak in the chorus.

The new song comes ahead of Sivan’s upcoming second album, Bloom, which is due for release on August 31st. From the album, he released lead single ‘My My My’ back in January, followed by ‘The Good Side‘ later that month and title-track ‘Bloom‘ in May. Pre-order the album here.

Meanwhile, Jónsi and Sigur Rós released perhaps their boldest album, Route One, late last year. It consists of eight selections from the band’s background music to a 24-hour YouTube live stream, in which they travelled around a 1332km Icelandic ring road. The track names are even based on the GPS locations of their journey.

Sigur Rós took to Twitter to announce their tour:

time for an adventure! new 2016 festival dates just announced – https://t.co/C4Sj2Pl6sN #sigurroslive https://t.co/OJHT5A3B5a

— sigur rós (@sigurros) November 24, 2015

The Icelandic band are set to perform in London on July 17th 2016, at the Citadel Festival. A festival which is also set to have the likes of Bear’s Den, Ben Howard, Nathan Ratecliff and many, many more.

Sigur Rós have also promised to perform with new material during the festival, with their last album ‘Kviekur’ coming out in 2013. However their re-release of their second album ‘Ágætis byrjun‘ was released earlier this year, as a 10 year tribute to the initial release.

On the bands website Sigur Rós wrote this:

“Every time you go on tour you want it to be different… and every time it is, usually because you have a new album you want to play people and that can be fun, because you have to work out how to recreate all the complicated stuff you did in the studio for the stage.

But there was a time when things were the other way round, when we worked stuff out on the road, and trying to capture lightning in a bottle was a problem for the studio later on.

This time, in addition to playing songs you know, we wanted to remember the seat-of-your-pants feeling experienced in the wake of, ‘Ágætis byrjun’, when for two years we formed and re-formed the songs that would go on to be the ‘( )’ album, live in front of people, night after night.

With this in mind, we are pleased to announce that we are playing festivals next summer in the spirit of adventure. All we can say right now is it’s going to be different, with new unreleased songs, a new show and maybe some other *new* things. Beyond that, we can only ask you to trust us on this one.”

Don’t Mind is their debut single, and starts off atmospheric with a dream like keyboard jingle setting the tone for the next five minutes, taking you on a journey throughout musical boundaries, touching down on a bit of indie, along with alternative rock. It is the post-rock sound that hits hardest, with the soaring gang vocals and distant electric guitar sending the listener into a trance, and letting the music take control.

Mountain Bird are led by the brainchild of the operation, Adam Ohman, who takes up producing duties, as well as provides vocals, writes the songs and arranges it all. Backed up by a stellar studio line up and a differing one for their onstage antics, while the line up may not be consistent, the quality always will be. With a sound that resembles the ambition of Sigur Ros mixed in with the self inspection of Mogwai, keep your eyes and ears out for Mountain Bird, a band that will be going places. Check out Don’t Mind below to see for yourself.

Entertainment Weekly have reported that the trio, who hail from Reykjavik in Iceland, are currently filming on location in Croatia, which is used as the setting for the royal city Kings Landing in the show.

It is not yet clear what role the band will play in the drama – which is set to return in early 2014 – but it has been said that the shows creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss are big fans of the ambient musicians. A number of musicians have been involved with the show in the past: renowned indie-rock act The National recorded a version of, ‘The Rains of Castamere’, a recurring song within the series, whilst another original song from the novels, ‘The Bear and the Maiden Fair’ was recorded by the indie band The Hold Steady. Musicians who have appeared on the show include Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, Will Champion from Coldplay – who portrays the drummer in the Red Wedding – and Jerome Flynn, former member of Robson and Jerome, who has a central role as sellsword Bronn.

Sigur Ros, meanwhile, are familiar with working in television, having guest-starred on an episode of The Simpsons earlier this year (and performing an ethereal version of the famous theme song)

Nominated for seventeen awards at the upcoming Emmy Awards, Game of Thrones, based on the  series of novels by George R. R. Martin is one of televisions…… actually, if you don’t already watch it, forget the description, just take the next two days off work, turn your phone off and watch it from start to finish. Seriously.

Sigur Ros released their seventh album, the outstanding, ‘Kveikur’, in June this year.

Check out the albums lead track below: