****

Jon Thor Birgisson, aka Jónsi, wins his bread as Sigur Rós’s singer, and there is plenty for fans of Iceland’s biggest band to enjoy in Riceboy Sleeps, Jónsi’s first musical outing with his partner, Alex Somers. Riceboy first awoke as a single track on February’s glorious Dark Was the Night charity comp: Happiness, the opening track here, offered a glimpse towards what this LP might offer. It’s not a record designed to carry the fans Sigur Rós picked up post-Hoppípolla and its parent album, Takk. Riceboy is, initially, hard work – the first few listens slip by as ethereally as an Enya fart – but deeper investigation reveals reels of lovingly crafted ambience and sounds of the wilderness that are nearly as sparse as an Icelandic bank account. These are blurred with bouts of choral singing that, while not quite John Tavener, are a step away from the falsetto Jónsi wields in his day job. It all combines to make a delicate, sad, little record, but one that ripples with beauty.

Will Dean

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