Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson (pronounced [ˈjouːn ˈθouːr ˈpɪrcɪsɔːn, ˈjounsɪ] ; born 23 April 1975) is an Icelandic musician; he is the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is known for his use of a cello bow on guitar and his "angelic" falsetto[1] or countertenor[2] voice. He is blind in his right eye from birth as a result of a broken optic nerve from the brain. He is openly gay.[3][4] Apart from Sigur Rós, Jónsi also performs together with his ex-partner Alex Somers as an art collaboration called Jónsi & Alex. They released their self-titled first book in November 2006, which was an embossed hardcover limited to 1,000 copies.[5] The two also released the album Riceboy Sleeps, in July 2009. They announced their separation in 2019, after having been together for 16 years.[6]
Jónsi | |
|---|---|
_(27836688703).jpg) Jónsi at the Citadel Festival, Victoria Park, London, 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jón Þór Birgisson |
| Born | 23 April 1975 |
| Origin | Iceland |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Website | jonsi |
On 1 December 2009, Jónsi's official website, jonsi.com, was launched in anticipation of his debut solo album, Go, which was released on 5 April 2010. After the release of the album, Jónsi promptly started a tour across North America and Europe, featuring songs from the album plus a few other selections, planning to tour from March to September. A decade would pass before Jónsi would release his second studio album, Shiver, which was released on October 2, 2020. He would release his third album Obsidian a year later in conjunction with the exhibit of the same name.
In late January 2010, Jónsi announced that Sigur Rós was on "an indefinite hiatus", as the band had scrapped plans for a new album previously announced to be released in 2010, saying that "they were just rumours". The band decided to take the year off, as several members of Sigur Rós recently had children, and as Jónsi developed his solo career.[7] In 2012, the band reformed and released the album Valtari in May 2012 and subsequently Kveikur in June 2013.
Musical career
When Jónsi was 13 years old, he learned his first song on guitar, "Wrathchild" by Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden remains one of his favorite bands to this day.[8] In 1995, Jónsi fronted a band called Bee Spiders, under the alias 'Jonny B'. He wore sunglasses on stage throughout their concerts. Bee Spiders received the 'most interesting band' award in 1995 in a contest for unknown bands called Músíktilraunir (Music Experimentations). The band played long rock songs and was compared to The Smashing Pumpkins.[8] Jónsi also fronted a grunge band called Stoned around 1992–1993. He also uses the alias Frakkur to release his solo material, e.g., the contribution to Kitchen Motors Family Album, which marked the first release under this name.
Since 1994, Jónsi has been the singer and guitarist for Sigur Rós. To date, they have released seven studio albums.
Aside from his many years with Sigur Rós, Jónsi has collaborated with his ex-partner Alex Somers[9] under the moniker Jónsi & Alex, releasing their album Riceboy Sleeps in 2009. In April 2010, Jónsi released his first solo album, Go, and began a multi-nation tour to promote the album from March through September across North America and Europe.
Jónsi's song "Around Us" was used for the American promotional trailer for Studio Ghibli's film The Secret World of Arriety and was also included in FIFA 11, the soundtrack by EA Sports.
His song "Tornado" was featured in Henry Alex Rubin's 2012 film Disconnect.
Jónsi also wrote the score for the 2012 Cameron Crowe film We Bought a Zoo.
"Boy Lilikoi" and instrumental versions of "Tornado", "Sinking Friendships", and "Around Us" were all included in the 2011 documentary This Is What Love in Action Looks Like.
Jónsi's song "Grow Till Tall" was used by the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps in their 2017 competitive program Jagged Line. It was also featured in the trailer for the third installment of the Divergent series, Allegiant.
In 2018, Jonsi contributed an original song titled "Who Are You Thinking Of?" to the soundtrack of the feature film Boy Erased. He collaborated with Troye Sivan on the song "Revelation", also included on the soundtrack.
How to Train Your Dragon franchise
Jónsi recorded "Sticks and Stones" for the score to the 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon,[10] for which DreamWorks Animation released a music video on 17 December 2010.[11] His song "Tornado" was featured in the arena show adaptation of this film. In 2014, Jónsi co-wrote the song "Where No One Goes" for the sequel, How to Train Your Dragon 2, with the film's music composer John Powell. He also co-wrote the melody for "For the Dancing and Dreaming". Jónsi additionally wrote a rough demo (entitled "Mama's Boy") for the film, which was eventually replaced by "Flying with Mother". He wrote and performed the song "Together from Afar" for the final installment of the franchise, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, in which he also provided the vocals for the track "The Hidden World".
Dark Morph
In 2019, it was announced that Jónsi and Swedish composer Carl Michael von Hausswolff had formed a new musical collaboration they were calling Dark Morph, and on 10 May 2019, they released their first album, also titled Dark Morph. The project "promises to explore the ramifications of ongoing environmental collapse to the oceans and its inhabitants."[12] The album consists mainly of ambient sounds, often simulating the sounds of animals and nature, and contains very few actual melodies.
Studio albums
Riceboy Sleeps (2009)
Jónsi and his ex-partner Alex Somers completed their first album together, Riceboy Sleeps, under the name Jónsi & Alex. The instrumental album was recorded in Iceland, played solely on acoustic instruments, and mixed in Hawaii. The album features appearances by the Icelandic string quartet Amiina and the Kópavogsdætur choir.[13]
The 68-minute album includes nine tracks and was released on 20 July 2009 on Parlophone Records.[14]
Go (2010)
A post that appeared on Jónsi's official site on 26 May 2009 stated that the artist was working on a solo album that would feature predominantly acoustic music and string arrangements from classical composer Nico Muhly. The album was set to be produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National, Tokyo Police Club).[15]
On 4 December 2009, a free MP3 of the track "Boy Lilikoi" was made available to mailing-list subscribers through the website. The MP3 announced the title of the album to be Go and gave a worldwide release date of "the week of 5 April 2010" through Parlophone and XL Recordings.
On 5 April 2010, as promised, the album was released in Iceland and the United Kingdom, with a worldwide release date of the following day. The album was sung mainly in English, marking a change from the majority of Jónsi's previous work, which was sung mainly in Icelandic and Vonlenska. The album charted at No. 20 on the UK album charts on 12 April 2010[16] and reached No. 23 on the Billboard 200.
The Go limited-edition box set also included Go Quiet, a 45-minute film, directed by Dean DeBlois (director of the Sigur Rós concert film Heima), that features all nine songs from the album performed acoustically at home in Reykjavík, over New Year 2010.
Jónsi went on tour with his album Go on 6 April 2010. The tour did not include any venues within Jónsi's home country of Iceland. The artist's touring band included Alex Somers on guitar, sound effects, and keyboards; Thorvaldur Thór Thorvaldsson on drums; Ólafur Björn Ólafsson on keyboards; and Úlfur Hansson on bass and monome.[17]
Shiver (2020)
Jónsi went a decade without releasing any solo material. On 3 April 2020, Jónsi took to Instagram to announce that he was releasing music later that month,[18] which would be the lead single, "Exhale", to his second studio album, Shiver, with an accompanying music video directed by Jónsi and Giovanni Ribisi.[19]
The album was made in collaboration with English music producer, singer and head of record label PC Music, A. G. Cook. Jónsi had no expectation for his and Cook's initial meeting, but the more they talked, the more he realized they might be perfect collaborators.[20]
Jónsi released another single, "Swill", for the album on 24 June 2020, with an accompanying music video directed by Barnaby Roper.[21]
Collaborations
Jónsi makes a guest appearance under the alias 'Frakkur' on track 13, "Skyscraper Heart", on Hi-Camp Meets Lo-Fi – Explosion Picture Score by Dip (1999)
Jónsi provides vocal material on three collaborations with The Hafler Trio:
Exactly As I Say (2004 CD; a separate limited edition of 111 copies also exists containing DVD and 5.1 surround sound)
Exactly As I Am (2005 Double CD)
Exactly As I Do (2005 Double CD)
Jónsi makes a guest appearance on Tiësto's track "Kaleidoscope"[22] on his album of the same name, which was released on 6 October 2009.
Jónsi appears on the album In a Safe Place by The Album Leaf, on the song "Over the Pond".
In 2018, Jónsi collaborated with Troye Sivan on the song "Revelation" from the Boy Erased soundtrack.[23]
Languages
Jónsi's first language is Icelandic. He also speaks English, according to the official Sigur Rós website:[24]
On the first three Sigur Rós albums (Von, Von Brigði, Ágætis Byrjun), Jónsi sang most songs in Icelandic but two of them ("Von" and "Olsen Olsen") were sung in 'Hopelandic'. All of the vocals on ( ) are in Hopelandic. Hopelandic (Vonlenska in Icelandic) is the 'invented language' in which Jónsi sings before lyrics are written to the vocals. It is not an actual language by definition (no vocabulary, grammar, etc.), but rather a form of gibberish vocals that fit to the music and act as another instrument. Jónsi likens it to what singers sometimes do when they've decided on the melody, but haven't written the lyrics yet. Many languages were considered to be used on ( ), including English, but they decided on Hopelandic. Hopelandic (Vonlenska) got its name (from a journalist, not Jónsi himself) from the first song which Jónsi sang on, "Hope" (Von).[25]
Instruments
Like a few other players of the bowed guitar, Jónsi plays mainly variations of the Les Paul.[26] He also plays Ibanez Les Paul copies, model PF200. The first Ibanez used to be his main instrument during the Bee Spiders era all through Ágætis Byrjun. It was largely refinished and decorated (as can be seen in Ágúst Jakobsson's documentary Popp í Reykjavík[27]). That particular instrument got stolen and broken but was on display in the Reykjavík Art Museum in the summer of 2003.[28] During the recordings of Takk..., Jónsi bought another PF200 to replace the Les Paul. Since the summer of 2006, Jónsi has been using a guitar that was made on the road by his then guitar tech Dan Johnson. The guitar is usually referred to as "The Bird", after the band's bird designs seen on previous album artwork that adorn the neck and frets of the guitar. "The Bird" is based on the body of the Ibanez PF200. The artist has also been seen playing a variety of other instruments such as the piano, acoustic guitar, electric bass guitar, harmonium, mellotron, baritone ukulele, and the banjo.
Activism
In 2003, he was escorted off the premises while protesting against Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant in Iceland.[29]
Jónsi is a vegetarian. He states that he "didn't go vegetarian because of the animals" but became gradually more concerned for their welfare.[30] Jónsi elaborated that he would find it difficult to date someone who eats meat, saying "I just love animals and I do not want to kill them, cook them or eat them so it’d be hard for me to watch anyone do that."[30] He briefly followed a raw food diet, although he no longer practices this as he felt it hindered his social life and he was "getting antisocial" when on tour.[31]
Visual arts
Alongside his visual art collaboration with Alex Somers, he has also exhibited his own work. He had an installation at the Los Angeles branch of Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in late 2019.[32]
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [33] |
BEL [34] |
FRA [35] |
GER [36] |
ITA [34] |
NLD [34] |
SWE [34] |
SWI [34] |
UK [37] |
US [38] | ||
| Go |
|
64 | 6 | 86 | 100 | 74 | 84 | 35 | 31 | 20 | 23 |
| Shiver |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 88 | — | — |
| Obsidian |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Collaborative albums
Jónsi & Alex (with Alex Somers)
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Riceboy Sleeps |
|
| Lost & Found |
|
Dark Morph (with Carl Michael von Hausswolff)
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Dark Morph |
|
| Dark Morph II |
|
Other collaborative albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Sounds of Fischer Vol. 1 (with Sin Fang, Alex Somers and Kjartan Holm) |
|
Soundtrack albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| We Bought a Zoo |
|
| Manhattan (with Alex Somers, Jeff Russo and Zoë Keating) |
|
| Tom Clancy's Without Remorse |
|
Live albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Go Live |
|
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2000 - 2004 (as Frakkur) |
|
Film albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| Go Quiet |
|
Extended plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| All Animals (as Jónsi & Alex with Alex Somers) |
|
| Go Do |
|
| Go Out |
|
| 11.16/12.21.2019 |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Go Do" | 2010 | Go |
| "Animal Arithmetic" | ||
| "Revelation" (with Troye Sivan) |
2018 | Boy Erased |
| "TB2" (as Frakkur) |
2000 - 2004 | |
| "Together From Afar" | 2019 | How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World |
| "Dark Wave" (as Dark Morph with Carl Michael von Hausswolff) |
2020 | Dark Morph II |
| "Exhale" | Shiver | |
| "Swill" | ||
| "Evol Lamina" (with Gyða Valtýsdóttir) |
Epicycle II | |
| "Cannibal" (featuring Elizabeth Fraser) |
Shiver | |
| "Cul de sac" (with Trayer Tryon and Alex Somers featuring Moses Sumney, Julianna Barwick and Nicole Miglis) |
New Forever | |
| "Salt Licorice" (featuring Robyn) |
Shiver | |
| "Mold" | 2021 | |
| "Beitilyng" (with Sin Fang, Alex Somers and Kjartan Holm) |
2022 | Sounds of Fischer Vol. 1 |
| "Birki" (with Sin Fang, Alex Somers and Kjartan Holm) | ||
| "Bakgarðar" (with Kjartan Holm and Sin Fang) |
Non-album single |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Kaleidoscope" (Tiësto featuring Jónsi) |
2009 | Kaleidoscope |
| "Candyland" (Sin Fang featuring Jónsi) |
2016 | Spaceland |
| "In Light" (Julianna Barwick featuring Jónsi) |
2020 | Healing Is a Miracle |
| "Carry On" (Mykki Blanco featuring Jónsi) |
2022 | Stay Close To Music |
Other appearances
| Song | Artist | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Skyscraper Heart" (credited as 'Frakkur') | Dip | 1999 | Hi-Camp Meets Lo-Fi: Explosion Picture Score |
| "Over the Pond" (uncredited vocals) | The Album Leaf | 2004 | In a Safe Place |
| "Ammælisstrákur" (credited as 'Frakkur') | Various | 2006 | Kitchen Motors Family Album |
| "Kaleidoscope" | Tiësto | 2009 | Kaleidoscope |
| "Sticks & Stones" | Various | 2010 | How to Train Your Dragon: Music from the Motion Picture |
| "Where No One Goes" | Various | 2014 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 |
| "For the Dancing and Dreaming" (melody-writer) | Various | 2014 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 |
| "Simple Gifts" | Danny Elfman | 2017 | The Circle (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
| "Revelation" (with Troye Sivan) |
Daniel Bensi | 2018 | Boy Erased (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
| "Who Are You Thinking Of?" | Daniel Bensi | 2018 | Boy Erased (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
| "The Hidden World" "Together from Afar"[39][non-primary source needed] |
Various | 2019 | How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World |
| "One Life" (Mark Ronson featuring Diana Gordon and Jónsi) |
Mark Ronson | 2021 | Watch the Sound (Original Soundtrack) |
| "Oil + Honey" (co-production and additional vocals) | Hyd | 2022 | Clearing |
References
- ^ Larsen, Luke (23 September 2011). "11 Amazing Falsetto Vocalists". Paste. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
- ^ Hunter, James (26 November 2002). "Shades of Gray". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014.
- ^ "Icelandic rock". The Economist. 14 June 2001. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
- ^ Price, Simon (17 July 2005). "At last! The populist person's thinking band". The Independent on Sunday. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ "Riceboy Sleeps Announces First U.S. Exhibition". ALARM Magazine. 5 July 2007. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 15 January 2008.
- ^ Albertson, Jasmine (17 October 2019). "Jónsi and Alex Somers on Waking Up Riceboy Sleeps, Trading Glaciers for Sunny Beaches and Working Together Post-Breakup". www.kexp.org. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
- ^ "Sigur Rós Official Site News". 29 January 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ a b "sigur rós – trivia". sigur-ros.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
- ^ Vaziri, Aidin (4 April 2010). "Sigur Rós singer prepares for U.S. solo tour". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
- ^ Richardson, Matthew (3 March 2010). "Jonsi Stars in New Documentary, Does Song For 'How To Train Your Dragon' (Video)". Prefixmag.com. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ DreamWorks Animation (17 December 2010). "Jonsi's "Sticks and Stones" Music Video" – via YouTube.
- ^ Bote, Joshua (1 May 2019). "Inspired By Environmental Crisis, Sigur Rós' Jónsi Announces New Duo Dark Morph". NPR. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
- ^ "eighteen seconds before sunrise – sigur rós news". sigur-ros.co.uk. 17 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
- ^ "sigur rós – press releases". sigur-ros.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
- ^ "jónsi recording solo album". 26 May 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
- ^ "UK top 40 albums 12 APR 2010".
- ^ "Tour Diary No. 2". jonsi.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ "Jónsi on Instagram: "🎹I'm releasing new music later this month 🎹 follow me on @spotify and @youtube for updates via the link in my bio"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- ^ Tan, Emily (23 April 2020). "Jónsi Makes Epic Return With 'Exhale' Video". Spin. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- ^ "Shiver, by Jónsi". Jónsi. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- ^ Ewing, Jerry (25 June 2020). "Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi releases video for new single Swill". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
- ^ Dombal, Ryan (4 August 2009). "Sigur Rós's Jónsi, Bloc Party's Kele Okereke on New Tiësto Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ Arcand, Rob (19 October 2018). "Jónsi and Troye Sivan – 'Revelation'". Spin. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "Sigur Rós Official Site". Retrieved 12 May 2007.
- ^ "sigur ros vs. NPR". gorillavsbear.net. 12 October 2007. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ "Sound on Sound on Sigur Ros Official Site". Archived from the original on 9 July 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2008.
- ^ "Popp í Reykjavík Stills on Sigur Ros Official Site". Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ^ "Óformleg klippimynd af Smekkleysu". mbl.is (in Icelandic). 14 June 2003. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ^ "Sigur Rós Official Site". January 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ a b Galbraith, Fiona; Montgomery, Kate. "Tonight, I sing for the animals". Viva! Activists. Archived from the original on 8 November 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- ^ Baggs, Michael (7 May 2012). "Sigur Ros interview: 'We always knew we'd get back together'". Gigwise. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
- ^ "November 16, 2019 – January 9, 2020 – - Jónsi – - Exhibitions – Tanya Bonakdar Gallery". tanyabonadkargallery.com. Tanya Bonadkar Gallery.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 149.
- ^ a b c d e "Discography Sigur Rós". Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ "Discographie Jónsi". LesCharts.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ "Discographie von Jónsi". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ "Jonsi | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ "Jónsi Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ^ Animation, DreamWorks (4 January 2019). "John Powell just announced the tracklisting to How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World soundtrack. Pre-order the album next Friday! #HowToTrainYourDragonpic.twitter.com/1F8GelgfhD". @DWAnimation. Retrieved 5 January 2019.