It speaks volumes for the Icelandic band Sigur Ros that they have achieved so much critical acclaim when they have eschewed the normal route to stardom by actually sticking to their mother tongue. To be perfectly honest, though, like The Cocteau Twins, lyrical content doesn't seem to matter on music like this. The sound is part ethereal (think of the 4AD label acts), part My Bloody Valentine's guitar effects and at times almost classical. If one can imagine dolphins singing in tune then it's likely that 'Svefn-G-Englar' would be the result but this album is full of gloriously weird moments. The effects on 'Staralfur' are spine tingling as the angelic vocals of teenager Jonsi Birgigisson take on the might of a string section to impressive effect; similarly outstanding is the collision of mournful brass against the cymbal crashes of 'Ny Batteri'. At 70 minutes long such invention is a lot to take in and certainly a few of the tracks probably last a few minutes longer than they needed to but Sigur Ros have proved that there's more talent in Iceland than Björk alone. And how.