History Music / SigurRos

* Jónsi (Jón Þór Birgisson) - vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica

!Tropes:

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Kveikur'' as a whole embraces a much darker and heavier sound than the band's previous albums.

* LastNoteNightmare: Dear Lord. For a band that seems to be the personification of the {{WAFF}} trope, this happens [[{{Understatement}} a lot.]]

*** A big MoodWhiplash on "Ég anda". Luckily this one is more subtle; you can hear Jónsi still oohing underneath.

*** "Kveikur". According to [[https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18191-sigur-ros-kveikur/ Pitchfork's review of it's parent album]] it sounds like someone decided to drive a massive drill into the ocean floor.

*** "Sigur Rós", the self-titled opening track of ''Von''.

*** Inverted LastNoteNightmare in "Hrýggjarsúla". The song starts with a similar noise but when the more "Brennisteinn"-familiar cuts kick in, the piece softens up a bit.
*** A big MoodWhiplash on "Ég anda". Luckily this one is more subtle; you can hear Jónsi still oohing underneath.

*** Another LastNoteNightmare inversion: "Brennisteinn". A rumbling noise fades in for about 20 seconds before the band make their grand entrance.

** So far not much dispute has arisen from this online, but most lyric websites show the hook to "Kveikur" transcribed as ''þú kveikir mig'' [[note]]"you turn me on" or "you ignite me"[[/note]]. Sigurrós, Jónsi's sister (incidentally the one that named the band), posted [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BG1L-aOqAmL/?taken-by=sigurroselin an Instagram picture of one of their set lists in 2016]] with an opposite page that shows the hook transcribed as ''nú kveikjum í''.

*** Inverted in "Hrýggjarsúla". The song starts with a similar noise but when the more "Brennisteinn"-familiar cuts kick in, the piece softens up a bit, ending with a downplay of this trope.
*** A big one on "Ég anda". If you listen carefully, you can hear a faint melody underneath.

*** "Brennisteinn" fades in with this, inverting the LastNoteNightmare.

*** "Di do" has a ''very'' [[MoodWhiplash jarring]] and extreme one that lasts about two minutes.

** Skyrocketed UpToEleven with the [[LastNoteNightmare last two minutes]] of "Di do", which wouldn't have made it on the scale otherwise.

** In ''Heima'', this trope is the exact reason why the band and their buddy string quartet Amiina decided to record "Gítardjamm" in an abandoned herring cannery in Djúpavik.

* GrimUpNorth: Norður og Niður ("north and down"), a four-[[StealthPun night]]-long art festival Sigur Rós and friends organized in Reykjavík near the end of 2017[[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke the darkest days]] of the year in Iceland[[/note]], revolves around this trope. The expression itself connotes "going to hell" in Icelandic.

* ItAmusedMe: The band's allowing "Untitled #4" to be used in ''Film/VanillaSky'' was the first time they had ever licensed their music for film use, and it was reportedly partially due to Jónsi finding the image of Creator/TomCruise acting over his music "funny".

*** "Kveikur". According to [[https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18191-sigur-ros-kveikur/ Pitchfork's review of its parent album]] it sounds like someone decided to drive a massive drill into the ocean floor.

** ''You sigh low, no, you sigh...''
* MundaneMadeAwesome: They write majestic-sounding songs about the oddest things. Case in point: probably their most popular song "Hoppípolla", an incredibly epic piece that even non-fans consider CrowningMusicOfAwesome - it's about how much Jónsi enjoys jumping in puddles, even though it gives him a nosebleed.

** "Ágætis byrjun" → the AlbumIntroTrack [[SdrawkcabName "Nujryb Sitæga"]].
** "Glosoli" → the intro of ''Takk''.

** ''Von'' contains a track called "18 sekúndur fyrir sólarupprás" which translates to "18 Seconds Before Sunrise" and consists of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 18 seconds]] of silence.

*** "Kveikur". According to [[https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18191-sigur-ros-kveikur/ Pitchfork's review of it's parent album]] it sounds like someone decided to drive a massive drill into the ocean floor.

** ''Von'' contains a track called "18 sekúndur fyrir sólarupprás" which translates to "18 Seconds Before Sunrise" and consists of 18 seconds of silence.

* DroneOfDread: "Sigur Rós," the self-titled opening track of ''Von'', and the outro to "Hjartað hamast".
** ''Valtari'' has a big one ending "Ég anda".
** "Kveikur" deserves its own sub-entry here for sounding like someone decided to drive a massive drill into the ocean floor.
** "Hrýggjarsúla" begins with this.

* HellIsThatNoise: "Brennisteinn" fades in with this.
** The endings to "Starálfur" and "Hjartað hamast".
** After the music fades out, the last minute to "Svefn-g-englar" combines this with HeartbeatSoundtrack.
** Downplayed with "Sé lest", whose ending sounds more like a [[OminousMusicBoxTune music box being wound up]].

* LastNoteNightmare:
** "Avalon". After you've finally adjusted to the slow and haunting tempo, weird clanking noises come in.
*** Considering that the entire song is a [[FridgeBrilliance slowed down instrumental section of "Starálfur"]], those 'clanking noises' are just the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bf4FuhguOM&feature=related strums of a guitar]] .
** The [[HellIsThatNoise actual ending]] of "Starálfur" is a straight example.
** "Di do" has a ''very'' [[MoodWhiplash jarring]] and extreme one that lasts about two minutes.
** In "Ég anda", you can fairly hear the melody behind the DroneOfDread at the end.
** "Kveikur" ends with an extremely distorted DroneOfDread. They sure do like these.
** "Hrafntinna" actually [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] this. It definitely goes into one after the last chorus, as the song slowly falls apart until it's only the drums and hellish drones when Jónsi distorted voice comes in but fades into a very mournful, but soothing horn section. "Brennisteinn" ends similarly, with a similarly downplayed but much more triumphant sounding horn section at the end.

* {{Mondegreen}}: The most famous Hopelandic word to ever exist-"tjú"—has been commonly interpreted as "It's you", especially with its liberal use in "Svefn-g-englar".

** "Hoppípolla" → "Með Bló&eth:nasir".

-->''[[BrickJoke ...úúúúúúúúúúúúú]][[IncrediblyLongNote úúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúú]][[OverlyLongGag úúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúú.]]''

* ItAmusedMe: The band's allowing "Untitled 4" to be used in ''Film/VanillaSky'' was the first time they had ever licensed their music for film use, and it was reportedly partially due to Jónsi finding the image of Creator/TomCruise acting over his music "funny".

* LyricalTic: Mostly anything that rhymes with the word "you". "Svefn-g-englar" in particular has a chorus so replete with ''tjú'' that it's become a SignatureSound for Jónsi.

* {{Mondegreen}}: The most famous Hopelandic word to ever exist--"tjú"--has been commonly interpreted as "It's you", especially with its liberal use in "Svefn-g-englar".

** And "Popplagið" ("The Pop Song"), despite its rather catchy melody in the first half, isn't what you could in any way call a pop song.

** "Ágætis byrjun" → the AlbumIntroTrack [[SdrawckabName "Nujryb Sitæga"]].

** There are also thirty-six seconds of silence separating the first four songs on ''( )'' from the last four. The gap separates the sunnier, more cheerful first half from the distinctly more downbeat second half (which also consists of substantially longer songs).

* SurrealHorror: Most of the lyrics on ''Kveikur'' and the video for "Brennisteinn".

* TitleTrack: All their albums except ''()'' and ''Hvarf/Heim'' (if that counts as a proper album) have one... or in the case of ''Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust'', two.

** In ''Heima'', this trope is the exact reason why the Jónsi and their string quartet buddies Amiina decided to record "Gítardjamm" in an abandoned herring cannery in Djúpavik.

* ''The Rains of Castamere'' (2014) - A single, covering the Lannister family song from ''Series/GameOfThrones'' in a dirge-like, melancholic manner.

* ''{{Inni}}'' (2011), which was filmed at a concert they did in London in 2008, [[LeFilmArtistique shot in black-and-white with arty camera angles]], and interspersed with some archive footage of the band.

* {{Adorkable}}: They are infamous for being terrible at interviews. Jonsi especially fits this trope to a T since he's like a little child in an adult's body.

* CueTheRain: Sigur Rós seem to be a magnet for inclement weather whenever they're on tour. [[SubvertedTrope On the upside]] of this being a RunningGag with the band, though, it makes their performance all the more magical to the fans who came to see them.

* DroneOfDread: "Sigur Ros," the self-titled opening track of ''Von'', and the outro to "Hjartað hamast" and "Kveikur".

* EchoingAcoustics: Used frequently.

*** "Svo Hljótt" into "Heysatan".
* ForTheLulz: The band's allowing "Untitled 4" to be used in ''Film/VanillaSky'' was the first time they had ever licensed their music for film use, and it was reportedly partially due to Jónsi finding the image of Creator/TomCruise acting over his music "funny".

* GrimUpNorth: Norður og Niður ("north and down"), a four-[[StealthPun night]]-long art festival Sigur Rós and friends organized in Reykjavík near the end of 2017[[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke the darkest days]] of the year in Iceland]][[/note]], revolves around this trope. The expression itself connotes "going to hell" in Icelandic.

** ''Valtari'' has a big one on "Ég anda".

** "Hrafntinna" actually [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] this. It definitely goes into one after the last chorus, as the song slowly falls apart until it's only the drums and hellish drones when Jonsi's distorted voice comes in but fades into a very mournful, but soothing horn section. "Brennisteinn" ends similarly, with a similarly downplayed but much more triumphant sounding horn section at the end.

* LyricalTic: Mostly anything that rhymes with the word "you". "Svefn-g-englar" in particular has a chorus replete with ''tjú'' that it's become a signature for Jónsi.

** ''Ágætis byrjun'' has its heavy moments due to its frequent droning, particularly "Hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm)" whose DroneOfDread ending could merit a 10.

** And "Popplagið" ("The Pop Song") isn't what you could in any way call a pop song.

** ''Ba ba ti ki di do'' as a whole seems to be dedicated to this trope.

** The title track of ''Ágætis byrjun'' → the intro of ''Ágætis byrjun''.

** "Hoppipolla" → "Med Blodnasir".

* {{Rockumentary}}: ''Heima''

* SoloSideProject: Jonsi has released ''Go'', a distinctly more electronic-sounding album than the band's usual Post-Rock output.

** The majority of Jonsi's solo album ''Go''.

-->[[BrickJoke ...úúúúúúúúúúúúú]][[IncrediblyLongNote úúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúú]][[OverlyLongGag úúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúú.]]

-->[[LyricalTic tjúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúúú...]]

* EpicInstrumentalOpener: ''Takk...'' opens with a TitleTrack that consists of a brief yet lush and stripped-down instrumental reprise of "Glósóli".

* RearrangeTheSong: ''Liminal''—an ambient mixtape project curated by Jónsi, Alex Somers, and Paul Corley— is composed of both fresh material and reworks of old tracks by the band.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: While the RÚV crew had parked their vehicle to take a break during the ''Route One'' slow TV event, the camera captured [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BG6sHwRoceK/?taken-by=sigurros a rather photogenic Icelandic horse]] that the fans who tuned in to ''Route One'' [[https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/sigur-ros-slow-tv-event-has-been-eclipsed-by-a-random-icelandic-horse-christened-sigur-horse-by-fans-6611 never forgot]] for the rest of the day. They even named it [[IncrediblyLamePun Sigur Horse]]!

** "Brennisteinn" is roughly an 8, and if it weren't for the vocals could even be a 9. "Kveikur" teeters between 8-9 up until the climax where it stays a solid 9, and reaches 10 from when you hear Jónsi's guitar literally ''scream''.

----

** "Viðrar vel til loftárása" is Icelandic for "Good weather for an airstrike", which title-wise is in a completely different universe from the [[{{Gayngst}} song]] [[TearJerker it]][[CrowningMomentofHeartwarming self]]. The band got the title from a weatherman sarcastically reporting "Today: good weather for an airstrike" while NATO was bombing Serbia during [[UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars the Kosovo War]]. (In a freaky coincidence, ''Ágætis byrjun'' was actually released on 12 June 1999, the day Slobodan Milošević agreed to withdraw the Serbian forces and UN peacekeepers began being deployed in Kosovo.)

* '''SweetDreamsFuel''': After they spent most of their discography utterly mastering this trope by the time of ''Valtari,'' they [[DarkerAndEdgier completely abandoned it for]] ''[[DarkerAndEdgier Kveikur.]]''

* ''Route One'' (created 2016, released 2018) - Elements from 4 unreleased songs churned by the AI mixer Bronze Format into an ambient mix lasting 24 hours as the band embark on a slow TV drive around Iceland's Route 1 during the 2012 summer solstice. Two years later, its best bits were compiled into a 40-minute vinyl album.
** "Óveður" - One of the four tracks remixed for ''Route One'' and the only one to be released as a single.

* GrimUpNorth: Norður og Niður ("north and down"), a four-day-long art festival Sigur Rós and friends organized in Reykjavik near the end of 2017, revolves around this trope. The expression itself connotes "going to hell" in Icelandic.

* ''Liminal'' (2018) - An ambient mixtape project by Sigur Rós et al.

** ''Liminal'' loves this trope. Most of the tracks fade into the next and since the band considers this an "endless" mixtape, they're likely to add more.

* RearrangeTheSong: ''Liminal'' is composed of both fresh material from the Sigur Rós family and reworks of old tracks by the band.

* ''Kveikur'' (2013) - "Candlewick"

* ''End'' (2017) - A single from the ''Series/BlackMirror'' episode ''Recap/BlackMirrorHangTheDJ'', somehow dreamlike and calming at the same time.

* CarefulWithThatAxe: At the end of "Hún Jörð"

* DroneOfDread: "Sigur Ros," the self-titled opening track of ''Von'', and the outro to "Kveikur".

*** "Svo Hljott" into "Heysatan".

* GrimUpNorth: Norður og Niður ("north and down"), a four-day-long art festival Sigur Rós and friends organized in Reykjavik near the end of December 2017, revolves around this trope.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: The band generally stays extremely low, in the 1-to-5 range. "Brennisteinn" is roughly an 8, and if it weren't for the vocals could even be a 9. "Kveikur" as well would be a 9 (with moments of 10, especially [[DroneOfDread the ending]]) if it weren't for the EarWorm chorus keeping it teetering between 8 and 9.
** Escalated UpToEleven with the [[LastNoteNightmare last two minutes]] of "Di do", which couldn't have made it on the scale otherwise.

* NightmareFace: The baby on the cover for ''Von''.

* [[OneWomanWail One Man Wail]]

* RunningGag: Sigur Rós seem to be a magnet for inclement weather whenever they're on tour.

* ThemeNaming: All of the songs on ''Kveikur'' have an elemental theme to them, as well as being related to the geography of Iceland. "Brennisteinn" translates to "Brimstone," "Hrafntinna" to "Obsidian," "Ísjaki" to "Iceberg," and so forth, with the exception of the title track (which translates to "Candlewick") and the Japanese bonus tracks.

** The first two tracks of ''Takk...'', the TitleTrack and "Glósóli", flow into each other quite well since the former is a reprise of the latter.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: The band generally stays extremely low, in the 1-to-5 range, but "Brennistein" is roughly an 8, and if it weren't for the vocals could even be a 9. "Kveikur" as well would be a 9 (with moments of 10, especially [[LastNoteNightmare the ending]]) if it weren't for the EarWorm chorus keeping it teetering between 8 and 9.

*** ''Route One'', where the band collaborated with local TV station RÚV to take a drive around Iceland for over 24 straight hours on summer solstice in 2016. Complete with "constantly evolving" AI-randomized ambient music to boot.

** "Dido" has a ''very'' [[MoodWhiplash jarring]] and extreme one that lasts about two minutes.

** "Hrafntinna" actually [[SubvertedTrope subverts]] this. It definitely goes into one after the last chorus, as the song slowly falls apart until it's only the drums and hellish drones when Jonsi's distorted voice comes in but fades into a very mournful, but soothing horn section. "Brennestein" ends similarly, with a similarly downplayed but much more triumphant sounding horn section at the end.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: They write majestic-sounding songs about the oddest things. Case in point: probably their most popular song "Hoppipolla", an incredibly epic piece that even non-fans consider CrowningMusicOfAwesome - it's about how much Jonsi enjoys jumping in puddles, even though it gives him a nosebleed.

* SurrealHorror: Most of the lyrics on ''Kveikur'' and the video for "Brennistein".

* ThemeNaming: All of the songs on ''Kveikur'' have an elemental theme to them, as well as being related to the geography of Iceland. "Brennestein" translates to "Brimstone," "Hrafntinna" to "Obsidian," "Ísjaki" to "Iceberg," and so forth, with the exception of the title track (which translates to "Candlewick") and the Japanese bonus tracks.

* IThoughtThatWas: If you see that one of their songs is titled "Heysátan", that's Icelandic for "haystack". Nothing to do with [[RockMeAsmodeus the other guy]].

** ''Takk...'' and ''Með suð'' were the first albums to include more songs in the 3-5 minute length range.
** "Untitled #8 (Popplagið)" deserves special mention though: the entire 12-minute song is basically one big crescendo. It often gets even longer when performed live.
** Also from ''( )'', "Untitled #7 (Dauðalagið)" is even longer, clocking in at thirteen minutes.

* IncrediblyLongNote: Jónsi holds considerably long falsetto notes in "Festival", and during live performances he holds them for ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-xBWxWmHZM even longer]]''.

* EpicRocking: Frequent.

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: The intro of ''Ágætis byrjun'' ends with the same rumble and submarine-esque beep heard in the next song, "Svefn-g-englar".

** ''Avalon''. After you've finally adjusted to the slow and haunting tempo, weird clanking noises come in.

** The [[LastNoteNightmare actual]] [[HellIsThatNoise ending]] of "Starálfur" is a straight example.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: The band generally stays extremely low, in the 1-to-5 range, but "Brennestein" is roughly an 8, and if it weren't for the vocals could even be a 9. "Kveikur" as well would be a 9 (with moments of 10, especially [[LastNoteNightmare the ending]]) if it weren't for the EarWorm chorus keeping it teetering between 8 and 9.

* EpicRocking: Frequent. ''Takk...'' and ''Með suð'' were the first albums to include more songs in the 3-5 minute length range. "Untitled #8 (Popplagið)" deserves special mention though: the entire 12-minute song is basically one big crescendo. It often gets even longer when performed live. Also from ''( )'', "Untitled #7 (Dauðalagið)" is even longer, clocking in at thirteen minutes.

* SilenceIsGolden: ''Von'' contains a track called "18 sekúndur fyrir sólarupprás" which translates to "18 Seconds Before Sunrise" and consists of 18 seconds of silence.