SIGUR RÓS surprise fans with the release of a brand new song ‘Blóðberg’

Sigur Rós today surprise fans with the release of a brand new song ahead of the start of their sold-out Europe and North America tour, which begins on Friday, 16 June, at the Royal Festival Hall, London, with a headline show as part of Christine and the Queens’ Meltdown.

The new song, titled ‘Blóðberg’, is an epic orchestral piece that unfurls itself across seven minutes and potentially signposts the way to a promised new album, the band’s first in a decade. It arrives alongside a video by Johan Renck, director of the HBO miniseries Chernobyl and music videos by Madonna, Robyn and Beyoncé. He says of the video: “I feel as nihilistic as one could regarding the future. We are powerless against our own stupidities. Some aspects of this came to merge with my impressions of the themes of Blóðberg. The music becoming a score to my own miserable thoughts, giving them beauty as only music can.”

Listen to ‘Blóðberg’ – BELOW:

The song is the first in a decade to feature multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson back in the fold – having left the band in 2012 – alongside frontman Jónsi and bassist Georg Holm. ‘Blóðberg’ features the London Contemporary Orchestra conducted by Robert Ames. It is mixed and co-produced by another frequent collaborator Paul Corley, alongside the band. The LCO and Ames join Sigur Rós for Friday’s Meltdown show and also accompany them on their following European tour dates (NB the band will be accompanied by Ames and the Wordless Music Orchestra in North America);

Sigur Rós – 2023 Tour Dates

6/16 London, UK — Royal Festival Hall – SOLD OUT

6/17 Amsterdam, Netherlands — Concertgebouw – SOLD OUT

6/18 Hamburg, Germany — Elbphilharmonie – SOLD OUT

7/2 Berkshire, UK – On The Mount at Wasing* – Tickets

7/3 Paris, France — Philharmonie Main Hall – SOLD OUT

8/14 Toronto, ON — Roy Thomson Hall – SOLD OUT

8/16 New York City, NY — Beacon Theatre – SOLD OUT

8/18 Brooklyn, NY — Kings Theatre – SOLD OUT

8/19 Boston, MA — Wang Theatre – SOLD OUT

8/21 Minneapolis, MN — State Theatre – SOLD OUT

8/24 Seattle, WA — The Paramount Theatre – SOLD OUT

8/26 Berkeley, CA — The Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley – SOLD OUT

8/27 Los Angeles, CA — The Greek Theatre – SOLD OUT

 *without orchestra

Sigur Rós are one of the most successful bands of recent times and one of Iceland’s most successful acts of all time, with six number-ones in their home country and a trio of platinum albums globally. In the years since their last studio album, 2013’s Kveikur, the band launched the ‘Liminal’ soundbaths and endless playlists, built around blissed-out re-imaginings of moments from Sigur Rós’s catalogue both familiar and obscure. In 2020 they released the almost mythical ‘lost’ recordings Odin’s Raven Magic, an orchestral album originally made nearly two decades prior. The band have also reissued their albums Agætis byrjun, Takk, ( ), Með suð i eyrum við spilum endalaust and Valtari on their own label, Krunk. Alongside this, frontman J​​ónsi has released two solo albums, Shiver, featuring contributions from A. G. Cook, Robyn and Elizabeth Fraser, and Obsidian which coincided with his solo art exhibition at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York City.