i'm in love with a new group. New to me that is. They're called Sigur Rós which comes from the very common girl's name Sigurrós in Iceland.Their music is esoteric and heavenly. It's like moody Icelandic Enya meets arctic Deathcab/electronic Cowboy Junkies. Is it Canadian? Is it trip hop Bjork? Hard to pin this down. But the result is lovely.
What i find compelling about this group is that they have an unusual approach to lyrics. Apparently most of their songs are sung in Icelandic, but some are sung in an invented language called "Hopelandic." This is a kind of a "gibberish lyric that fits the music and acts as another instrument." Jónsi the singer, sings in Hopelandic to fit the melody before there are vocals.
At some point they must have decided to go with the perfectly fitting gibberish, rather than figuring out lyrics. Brilliant. And would i or anyone non-Icelandic be able to distinguish the difference of Hopelandic and Icelandic? i can't tell if Hopelandic is absurd or genius. i just think it sounds pretty wonderful.
By the way, I wonder if Elizabeth Frazier of the Cocteau Twins used some sort of Scottish gibberish--could anyone figure out what she was saying?
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