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Having only recently heard of Sigur Rós, I made the assumption that their music was of the obscure variety only listened to by hardcore music lovies. Apparently, I was wrong. Featuring in many big budget productions, Vanilla Sky and Planet Earth the most notable, they are without a doubt one of Iceland’s biggest musical exports. There’s little wonder they’ve made it so big however; their music is the kind to give you goosepimples. With an ethereal sound that’s so relaxing it hurts, ‘bed-time-listening’ pretty much sums up what these guys do best. With this in mind, I head to Leeds’ Hyde Park Picturehourse to see their recently released creative project: Heima.
Heima, meaning “homeland”, documents the band’s travels playing free unannounced gigs here, there and everywhere in the place that prompted the title: Iceland. Playing in obscure settings- a cave and a disused herring factory of all places- they really do their status as ‘alternative’ justice with Heima. I think it would be safe to say that Sigur Rós have no trouble dealing with inferiority complex. The resounding tone of the film isn’t one which entails humbleness on any level, regardless of their protests to the contrary. Shot after shot of gleaming, ‘this band equate to God’ faces and quotes of the ‘we’re joining the soul of the Icelandic public’ variety, after a while became tedious.
Of course, there were beautiful and intimate reflections made by the band, and the visual setting of Iceland was amazing by anybody’s standards. Each song played was delivered from the heart and the overall sound was undeniably incredible. However, the smugness sometimes overrode the beautiful simplicity of the music as the pretensions worked to create an air of superiority with its purposeful artiness.
If you are absolutely in love with Sigur Rós and get every album as soon as it’s released then buy and watch the DVD. It is amazing for hardcore fans as it gives a very personal and intimate insight into the band which could not be accessed by just listening to the music. This film’s not for mere dabblers though. If you don’t take heed, be prepared with pillow and duvet. This film will put you to sleep faster than the time it takes to buy the band’s album. Which, despite reservations regarding the film, is thoroughly recommended.
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