Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Jonsi

If you’re a fan of Sigur Ros then you probably enjoy the band’s lead singer Jonsi. (Sorry, I can’t figure out how to add all the bizarre Nordic accent marks). Anyway, he’s released two cds over the last couple of years and they’re a study in contrasts. The first was a collaboration with his boyfriend Alex Somers, and is quite stunning. The album is titled “Riceboy Sleeps” and the titles comes from the fact that at the time, Alex was down on his luck and ate a lot of rice and spent much of his time sleeping. It’s moody and atmospheric and is dreamy without being boring. It features layers of acoustic instruments and a children’s choir and rarely does Jonsi’s voice appear. At times it almost sounds like something you’d hear in church. The second cd is a solo project called “Go” and it’s just about the polar opposite of his first recording and that of Sigur Ros. It’s happy and jumpy with a strong dancy beat. I’m not sure if he’s singing in Icelandic or the made up language he uses in Sigur Ros and several of the tunes are in English. I really enjoy both recordings and have been playing them over and over—rather addicting.