After two years of silence, Sigur Rós is back. The Icelandic music group immediately treats its audience to a new CD and its first film, Heima. During the 34th Gent Film Festival the film will premiere and the group will play an acoustic set.
With Heima, the Icelandic word for 'home', the group gives a picture of the overwhelming nature and culture of their homeland. After a long world tour, Sigur Rós needed the peace, greenery and geysers of Iceland again. So in the summer of 2006 they toured the island for two weeks, performing for free in small cafes, ghost villages and even in the midst of wild nature. The film Heima is the result: a mix of live recordings, testimonials from the group members and images of Icelandic splendor. Not a tourist pamphlet, but a tribute to the country's overwhelming nature combined with the group's particularly atmospheric music.
Sigur Rós' music is known for its high goosebumps, melancholic instrumentation and settling atmosphere. No wonder, then, that the group is often asked to collaborate on soundtracks. For example, their music was used in Cameron Crowes Vanilla Sky (2001) and Mysterious Skin (2004) by Gregg Araki. Nic Balthazar also used their music for his newly awarded debut film Ben X (2007). But now there is Heima, Sigur Rós' own film, directed by Dean DuBlois, previously co-director of the Disney film Lilo and Stitch (2002). Performances of Heima differ considerably from the grand concerts full of dazzling lighting effects and visuals, but the intimate and simple take center stage. Ironically, the highlight of the film is the overwhelming performance in Reykjavik, the biggest Sigur Rós ever gave and Iceland ever saw.
After the film, Sigur Rós will play a 20-minute acoustic set in Theaterzaal Vooruit. The set will include music from their new double album to be released in the fall: Hvarf-Heim. The first album, Hvarf ("resting place"), features unreleased, electronic studio tracks. The second, Heim, features acoustic versions of Sigur Rós songs Samskeyti, Staralfur, Agaetis Byrjun, Vaka, Heysatan and Von.