UK release date: 28 November 2005
re-released: 1 May 2006
Sigur Rós's Hoppípolla, from fourth album Takk, was released at the end of 2005. Following its use by the BBC to trail David Attenborough's nature series Planet Earth, demand has brought about a re-release. Here's what we had to say about it first time round:
Hoppípolla is the first single proper from Sigur Rós's first album for a major, Takk. It's an obvious choice - easily the most commercial thing the ethereal Icelandic quartet have penned, it still remains quintessentially a Sigur Rós record. And it's all about children jumping into puddles.
Jonsi Birgisson's vocals are moderated down from their oft-scaled falsetto heights, while strings - both forward and backward recorded - help create a sense of near-euphoria in the choruses that contrasts with the stark verses.
At just over four minutes, radio stations could even programme this track in, despite the lyrics remaining resolutely Icelandic. Certainly this is not the band at their most experimentally brilliant, but it may help to win them new fans from anyone seeking music more interesting than that of Coldplay.
