Riceboy Sleeps by Jónsi & Alex
LABEL: XL Recordings   

For anyone who has ever listened to Sigur Rós, you know what you're getting into. The beautiful, spirits-soaring glee, the delicately placed chord against the backdrop of singer Jónsi Birgisson’s pure coos in hybrid languages. Now take Jónsi, the heart and soul of Sigur Rós, and let him find true love, inspiration, and his muse all in one fell swoop; Alex Somers.

The result is Riceboy Sleeps, a collaboration that spans visual and auditory art all based on that fateful day when Jónsi came across Alex sleeping on a mutual friend's couch at a party. The music they create perfectly captures this. The swooning "Daníell in the Sea" ebbs and flows like the oceans of Icelandic dreamlands: quiet enough to lull the listener to sleep, and beautiful enough to be something more than a lullaby.

However, as this is a collaboration, Jónsi and Alex's debut falls short of the splendor it envisions with the marvelous "Daníell..." and "Stokkseyri" by being a collection rather than a concept. All of their recorded material was thrown on here, and while it is all great music, the songs weren't created with the intention of being placed together.

Rather, each song is like an identical diamond puzzle piece; gorgeous, but there is no logical way to put them all together. Tracks like "Boy 1904" (which features the last known recording of a castrati boy ever, by the way) sound too religious and out of place to elevate the album to its potential.

Jónsi and Alex have the potential to release a record for the ages. What they need to do is tone down the puppy love a bit and concentrate on creating a cohesive album. Until then, I'm perfectly content with Riceboy being the soundtrack to my dreams.


REVIEWED BY RAYMOND CHALMÉ
RAYMOND'S 3 FAVORITE TRACKS: "Daníell in the Sea" • "Happiness • "Stokkseyri"
Read more from Raymond on his blog, Warm Tape.


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Jónsi & Alex - All the big trees from Jónsi & Alex on Vimeo.

Jónsi & Alex - Daníell in the sea from Jónsi & Alex on Vimeo.