Takk... is the fifth full-length studio album by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós. It has sold over 800,000 copies worldwide. The first singles, "Glósóli" and "Sæglópur", were released on August 15 2005 and August 16 2005 respectively, the former worldwide and the latter only in the United States. The single "Hoppípolla" was released in the UK on 28 November 2005 and entered the singles chart at #35 on 4 December. Upon its re-release in May 2006 it reached #24 in the UK chart.

Unlike its predecessor ( ), the album's lyrics are mostly in Icelandic, with occasional elements of Hopelandic, a scat-like form of gibberish. The songs "Andvari", "Gong", "Mílanó" and "Sé lest" are sung entirely in Hopelandic. Moreover, the song "Mílanó" features a guest performance by string quartet Amiina. The songs "Andvari" and "Mílanó" contain Hopelandic lyrics very similar to those found on the ( ) album.

Sigur Rós have placed "Glósóli" in streaming audio format on their MySpace website for preview. ^*

1000 copies of Takk... on vinyl are being manufactured and are in UK and US stores as of January 2006. It is composed of a gatefold sleeve housing two 12 inch records, with a single die cut page that houses a 10-inch record with a design etched on one side.

Sigur Rós also released music videos for "Glósóli" and "Hoppípolla". The music video for "Glósóli" showed children dressed in old fashioned Icelandic clothing migrating towards something unknown. Along the way the leader, a boy with a drum, directs the group through a land characterized by open fields and rocky hills, all the while picking up more and more children. The song culminates at the end when the children reach a hill and the lead boy starts beating his drum rapidly. When the song climaxes the children run full speed up the hill. It is then shown that the hill is a cliff into the ocean. When the children reach the cliff they jump off and fly away. The BBC used "Hoppípolla" as the backing music to trailers for the highly-acclaimed nature series Planet Earth and for the end credit of Match of the Day, in which the losing team, Liverpool F.C. came back to win the FA Cup Final.

An extended Sæglópur EP is set for release in the near future. Sæglópur has also been used as a backing tune for the BBC's advertising campaign for the 2006 Wimbledon Championships.Sigur Rós have recorded four new songs to appear on the EP, which are said to be somewhere in between Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do, Untitled #9 and the end of Glósóli. The band has also scripted a new video to Sæglópur, which they will direct themselves. As befits the song (whose name can roughly be translated as "Lost at sea"), the video will be a waterborne epic.

Sigur Rós received three awards at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2006: best album design (along with Ísak Winthers, Alex Somers and Lukka Sigurðardóttir), best alternative act and best rock album for "Takk".

On 7 April 2006, Takk... was certified Gold by the BPI (marking 100,000 copies sold in the UK).

Track listing

1. "Takk..." (Thanks...) – 1:57
2. "Glósóli" (Glowing sole) – 6:16
3. "Hoppípolla" (Hopping Into Puddles) – 4:28
4. "Með blóðnasir" (I Have a Nosebleed) – 2:17
5. "Sé lest" (I See a Train) – 8:40
6. "Sæglópur" (Lost at Sea) – 7:38
7. "Mílanó" (Milan) – 10:25
8. "Gong" (Gong) – 5:33
9. "Andvari" (Zephyr) – 6:40
10. "Svo hljótt" (So Quietly) – 7:24
11. "Heysátan" (Haystack) – 4:09

Personnel

• Jón Þór Birgisson – vocals, guitar
• Kjartan Sveinsson – keyboard
• Georg Hólm – bass
• Orri Páll Dýrason – drums

External links

• sigur-ros.is - Mini-site dedicated to their new release, Takk...
• Takk... @ Everythingrock.com
• Takk... album credits

2005 albums | Sigur Rós albums

Takk... | Takk... | Takk… | Takk... | Takk... | Takk...