Review Summary: Moulding the post-rock oddities of Sigur Rós in to a more malleable form ensures that Ásgeir's debut is a folktronica treat.
Since the arrival of Bjork and Sigur Rós in the 1990's, Iceland has developed into music’s geographical curio. Perhaps it is the land’s extreme isolation, pristine nature and clandestine mythology that guide even the most ordinary of musicians to melodic bliss, or perhaps it’s just that these guys are more talented than the rest of the world. With this in mind, it seems staggering that ten percent of the Icelandic populous own a copy of Ásgeir’s debut LP, Dýrð * dauðaþögn, which translates to In the Silence.
The conception of In the Silence is as unique as the sounds that are contained within it. Ásgeir began the composition of the album by placing a melody to poetry written by his 72-year-old father, before employing various family members to perform on everything from bass to saxophone for the albums recording. From here, fellow friend and famed American indie rocker John Grant translated the Icelandic lyrics into English for the albums international incarnation.
Unsurprisingly, the Icelandic landscape is perhaps the albums dominant sculptor. The opening track, “Higher,” commences with shrill puffs of air before slowly dissipating in favour of a gentle piano melody that compliments Ásgeir’s brooding falsetto, one that evokes memories of Bon Iver’s vocal renderings of his Wisconsin winterscape. The prevalence of Iceland’s landscape is not ignored in the lyrical content either; “Head in the Snow’s” looped humming refrain forms the bedrock for several metaphors on nature and sadness, “biting cold takes its toll/ in the depths of the mind/ damaging happiness.” However, perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Ásgeir’s lyricism is how the gloominess of his land juxtaposes with the vibrant instrumentation, most notably on the sparse “In Harmony” and the balmy “Summer Guest” where he awaits the “pure tones” of the songbird in the short Icelandic summer.
In the Silence’s most impressive aspect is that it avoids the pitfalls of the sometimes cliché acoustic singer-songwriter genre without sounding as abstract as the post-rock of Sigur Rós. The lead single, and most impressive number on the album, “King and Cross” bounces through its three minute lifespan thanks funky acoustic fretwork, swirling synth motifs, DJ samples and a bass line that Flea would be proud of. Neither folktronica nor pure acoustic folk, “King and Cross” see’s Ásgeir hitting upon a unique formula that transcends through the record’s following tracks with varying levels of success from the soothing “Was there Nothing?” to the disappointingly washed out closer “Soothe this Pain.”
While I can see one in ten Irish people enjoying the derivative tones of Gareth Brooks this summer, I do not envisage the same fate for Ásgeir. Nevertheless as a debut LP, In the Silence is a stunning effort. Though transcribing the artic Icelandic landscape through the medium of song is nothing new, it is how Ásgeir applies this practise through the mainstream listening ear that makes In the Silence such an enjoyably soothing record, despite an odd sprinkling of dull moments.
