Jónsi: Go

In the past two years Jón fiór Birgisson (Jónsi) has performed as both part of Sigur Rós and as Jónsi & Alex with boyfriend Alex Somers in last year's moody but moving ambient piece Riceboy Sleeps. As if to prove that you'd need Paul Collingwood-like hands to catch him before he changes guise again, he returns as just Jónsi for an optimistic pop record that sounds more like fellow northern Europeans Choir of Young Believers and Loney Dear than the wooshy orchestral music of Sigur Rós. Like them, he even sings in English this time. As you'd expect, Go has some stirring moments: the militaristic drums on Around Us and the comely strings on Boy Lilikoi that echo moments on The Rising by Bruce Springsteen. Of course Jónsi's falsetto is rarely anything but a spectral delight either. It's not quite enough to hold Go together as a pop record though, giving other tracks such as the more outre Kolnidur a feeling that they don't quite belong here. But, speckled with occasional bits of loveliness, it's an eminently listenable set.