As opener 'Go Do' clearly indicates, gone are also the sometimes very melancholic and even dystopian soundscapes of some of Sigur Rós' work, replaced by a much brighter mood. The opener is a pretty simple, sparklingly instantaneous but not all too deep basher, but at track number two, 'Animal Arithmetic', the album takes off with the phenomenal harmonics that dominate throughout, impressively accompanying Jónsi's lung-collapsingly beautiful voice. The gingerly swirling and beautiful ballad 'Tornado' is another highlight, and many of the tunes on the album are in the same mold.
In fact, there are so many uplifting songs on this record, it's hard to know where to end and begin without having to highlight each and every tune, but a key one is 'Boy Lilikoi', with Samuli Kosminen's cascading drums and chirruping flutes. Some might find this album hysterically overjoyous, but who cares, when it's as beautiful as this? Still, 'Kolniður', which is the album's darkest and gravest track, is a pivotal finger in the soil midway through, as are the two closing tracks, both of which are more akin to the sound of the earlier stages of Jónsi's career.
Sure, Go doesn't reach the same dizzying heights, and doesn't have the sheer monolithic pathos and bombast of Sigur Rós at their finest, but this is just as good, and with the hard truth being that the most advanced music is also often the most confined and least accessible, Jónsi sacrifices his eminence in one field, only to prove his equal excellence in another.
