Valtari

BBC MusicPositive

“Probably the band’s quietest since 1999’s groundbreaking Ágætis Byrjun, and consequently their most perplexing. Yet, in some ways, this is one of their most beautiful releases in a career that has never been short of elegance”

Drowned in Sound8/ 10

“Valtari might not be a huge digression for the band but that doesn’t matter: this is quietly, entrancingly and thoroughly sublime”

Clash

“Their tone and style as a band is so robust now that short of quizzing them about their processes we’d doubt anyone would clock that this is an album of mastering and mixing wizardry”

Under the Radar

“Glides along with the grace we’ve come to associate from the Scandinavian quartet— without ever plunging to new and exciting depths”

Pitchfork6.1/ 10

“Sigur Rós have proven they can make indelible music that’s pretty and unpredictable, pretty and melodic, pretty and unnerving, pretty and inspiring. Valtari wants to be pretty and that’s it”

“A masterpiece it isn’t, but Valtari is undeniably significant, as this could be the very moment where Sigur Rós have hit the ceiling of their own beauty”

AllMusic4/ 5 stars

“A refined display of their musical power with breathtaking dynamics and enough emotion to flood an ocean”

The Independent

“Indistinct ambiences are gradually inhabited by swells of organ, piano, strings and voices, rising with awed mystery towards hints of an epiphany that never quite comes”

The A.V. ClubA-

“A nearly percussion-free batch of ambient soundscapes that may frustrate fans of its more direct predecessor, but ranks among the group’s most elegant records”

Slant Magazine4/ 5 stars

“With Sigur Rós firmly re-entrenched in their unique ambient-rock niche, Valtari proves that Inni was more of an unfortunate blip than the sign of impending stagnation”

Rolling Stone3.5/ 5 stars

“It’s like sacred music of a religion sans dogma or proscriptions”

The Quietus

“Their most unambitious work to date. Valtari is by no means a bad record; it’s extremely easy to enjoy. It’s even beautiful at times. Unfortunately, it’s even easier to forget”