Sigur Rós and London Contemporary Orchestra, behind the scenes
‘We’ve been touring so many years. It was time to do something new, something exciting. This felt like the perfect time to do it.’
That something exciting which Sigur Rós bassist Georg Hólm refers to is a collaboration with the London Contemporary Orchestra to bring fresh orchestration to the band’s music. Working with the LCO’s co-Artistic Director and co-Principal Conductor Robert Ames, the returning Kjartan Sveinsson produced new arrangements for some of Sigur Rós most iconic works, which were given their first performance in front of an audience in our Royal Festival Hall as part of Christine and the Queens’ Meltdown.
In this video Hólm explains what it was like returning to the studio to record a record for the first time in a decade, and also how it felt to work with the orchestra. With a look at exclusive rehearsal footage from Maida Vale studios, and the Royal Festival Hall we also hear from Ames on what makes the LCO stand out, and what their collaboration with Sigur Rós brings to the band’s sound.
‘When we started making the record it felt immediately that it wanted a lot of strings, an orchestration, that happened quite naturally. And now with this big orchestra, we’re in unknown territories really, it feels exciting’