I like how this album slowly feels like it’s opening up as it goes along, like a flower blooming. At least that’s the feeling overall: the instrumentation increasingly diversifies, but the effect is subtle… maybe it’s too subtle and I’m just hearing things that I WANT to hear, since this album is so completely dominated by strings.
So, about that… it might be impossible to hear the nuances and variations in timbre without the best possible headphones. I think I’d rather lean in to those sonic variations more often – I’d want them to stand out. But no, most sounds outside of Jónsi’s vocals are simply drowned in the ocean of strings. The strings are pretty as hell, though.
I nearly wish ‘Klettur’ was toward the end of the album, rather in the middle, since it’s the most enormous of them all. Holy crap, even in an album whose main sonic tapestry is almost 100% cinematic string orchestra, Klettur stands out like a mountain rising above the mist. This is the only time the strings truly wail and I’m absolutely smitten. (But it’s that kick drum and growling bassline which sets the track apart, though… not the strings.)
This album is potent and Jónsi’s still got his falsetto chops. But I wouldn’t be surprised if multiple people come along and claim this album is actually just 10 songs which all follow the same formula. I would disagree with them… but not vehemently.
ÁTTA manages to simultaneously be extremely subtle and also extremely big and extravagant – an interesting conundrum.
I much preferred Side A over Side B.
GRADE: A-