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NPR Music

Jónsi talks about 'ÁTTA,' the new album by Sigur Rós

NPR Music

NPR

Music

4.33.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this special edition of All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen speaks with Jónsi, from the Icelandic band Sigur Rós, about ÁTTA, that group's first studio album in more than 10 years. Coming out 26 years after they released their first album, ÁTTA is music the group made over years, first in informal reunions in Jónsi's basement before and during the COVID pandemic, and eventually in collaboration with the London Contemporary Orchestra. The unmistakable singer talks about how it felt to have the band playing together again after a decade and reveals some of the meaning behind the first single from the album.

Transcript

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0:00.0

From Pierre Music, it's all songs considered on this special edition, a conversation with

0:05.8

Yannzy from the band Siguros.

0:08.4

And I'm about to play you music from the Icelandic band's first new album in over ten years.

0:15.0

Here's how the album begins.

1:30.0

The record is called Ata, which translates from Icelandic as 8.

1:44.0

It's the band's 8th studio album.

1:46.0

Their first came out 26 years ago.

1:49.2

The three bandmates are Yann Thorebergisin on vocals and cello-bode guitar, George

1:54.6

Homes on bass and Katarns Fenson, who just rejoined the band on keyboards and so many more

2:01.2

instruments.

2:02.2

Their best known as Yannzy, Gaggi and Kare, and together with the London contemporary orchestra,

2:08.3

they made a magnificent album.

2:10.8

So what brought this group back together after all these years?

2:13.9

That's where my conversation with Yannzy begins.

2:17.8

So your last album was about ten years ago.

2:21.9

It's called Quaker.

2:23.9

And so you all went kind of your separate ways, not that you were all idle, that's for sure,

2:30.5

very busy.

2:31.5

So what inspired you all to get back together and do this and start making music again?

2:40.0

I think it was kind of like an accident that Kartan Kippel player, which hadn't been in

2:46.6

the band for ten years, came to visit me in LA and we did a kind of recording.

2:55.8

The ham session in my basement, and where we had my guitar with a cello bow and effects

...

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