Sigur Ros have spent the better part of the last year revealing short films corresponding to each of the track off of their latest album “Valtari.” As if something so ambitious cannot stand on its own, the Icelandic band is screening the 17 films on all seven continents — including Antarctica — and going on tour in North America and releasing an additional new EP of three songs.
They put their own ambition to ambitious shame.
The latest short film to be released from the album-film experiment is a movement-centered piece set to “Ekki Múkk”, “Valtari,” “Rembihnútur,” and “Varúð,” featuring only a pair of dancers conversant in contortion, calling and responding through motion like a very intense mating call. Visually stunning, director Christian Larson’s piece a great release after the pure tension of the tracks.
The screenings of it and other officially commissioned and fan-made videos for the “Valtari Mystery Film Experiment” will occur during the second week of December in some unorthodox venues like “hardware stores, hairdresser salons, and beyond,” in dozens of cities worldwide based in Portugal to South Africa to Oklahoma to Japan.
As for after December, Sigur Ros is returning to tour the United States starting in March, with one particularly big stop at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Their international trek is already ongoing. The new American dates are below.
The band has promised a free three-song EP to ticket buyers, with the digital set containing three new and unreleased songs, out to holders on March 22. One of those tracks may be “Brennisteinn,” which they bowed live in their native country last week during the Iceland Airwaves festival. You can also hear that below.
Sigur Rós: Valtari on Nowness.com.
11/13 – Perth, AU @ Belvoir Amphitheatre
11/15 – Adelaid, AU @ Thebarton Theatre
11/17 – Sydney, AU @ Harvest Festival
11/18 – Brisbane @ Harvest Festival
11/21 – Taipei, TW @ Taiwan University Stadium
11/23 – Singapore, SG @ Fort Canning
11/25 – Kuala Lumpur, MY @ Urbanscapes Festival
02/13 – Porto, PT @ Coliseum
02/14 – Lisbon, PT @ Campo Pequeno
02/16 – Barcelona, ES @ Sant Jordi Club
02/18 – Jesolo, IT @ Pala Arrex
02/19 – Milan, IT @ Mediolanum Forum
02/21 – Amsterdam, NL @ HMH
02/22 – Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom
02/23 – Munich, DE @ Zenith
02/24 – Basel, CH @ St. Jakobshalle
02/26 – Brussels, BE @ Forest National
02/27 – Paris, FR @ Zenith
02/28 – Lille, FR @ Zenith
03/02 – Glasgow, UK @ SECC
03/03 – Manchester, UK @ Apollo
03/04 – Manchester, UK @ Apollo
03/05 – Wolverhampton, UK @ Civic
03/07 – London, UK @ Brixton Academy
03/08 – London, UK @ Brixton Academy
03/09 – London, UK @ Brixton Academy
03/14 – Tokyo, JP @ Nippon Budokan
03/17 – Osaka, JP @ Kobe World Hall
03/24 – Washington, DC @ Patriot Center
03/25 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
03/26 – Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena
03/27 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
03/29 – Ottawa, ON @ Scotia Bank Place
03/30 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Theatre Bowl
04/01 – Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
04/02 – Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
04/03 – Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
04/06 – Denver, CO @ 1st Bank
04/08 – Dallas, TX @ Verizon Theatre
04/09 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
04/10 – Austin, TX @ Cedar Park Center
04/12 – Phoenix, AZ @ Comerica
04/17 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium