[4/5]
Anyone lucky enough to catch Sigur Rós on last winter's U.S. tour may have been bewitched by openers Amiina. While this female Icelandic quartet are best known for being their tourmates' string section, as a separate entity Amiina recreate exquisite music-box lullabies buoyed by strings, harp, vibraphone and other assorted twinkling percussion. Kurr, their debut album, is equally mesmerizing, a mostly instrumental collection full of striking beauty. "Glámur" builds slowly amid a shower of bell-like percussion, until a shivering string beehive swells and arches like a graceful swan; the intricately plucked melody and wordless crooning of "Hilli" sounds like the first dance at a medieval wedding; and the playfully intricate "Kolapot" shimmers like a rainbow of light beaming through glass. If the vulnerabilty of Sigur Rós stems from crescendoing roars of emotion, then consider Amiina's majestic chamber music the muted denouement. Kurr is an album to rock you gently to sleep. (EVER) Annie Zaleski
 Official Website: http://www.everrecords.com
|
