Sigur Rós

Our finest gig space in terms of acoustics and ambience, Fort Canning Park is normally home to big, sweaty-balled rock-outs by Euro/American bands, but the coming of Scandinavia’s most beloved quartet is set to cast a very different aural spell on this steamy colonial setting. True musical pioneers, Sigur Rós’ unique atmospherics are no secret: May’s sixth studio album, deceptively titled Valtari (literally ‘steamroller’), hardly reinvented their wheel, though it remains a haunting listen.

But their concerts are a communal experience like no other, filled with all the spine-tingling beauty, slow-building dynamics and sudden moments of ecstatic catharsis lead singer/guitarist Jon Thor ‘Jónsi’ Birgisson and his brothers in sound have made their signature. And what’s most extraordinary of all is that just four men are summoning a symphonic maelstrom that’s both as delicate as a butterfly’s wings and so mighty it moves mountains. Grown men with tattoos and rottweilers will weep.

Long-time fans will hold out for those epically unpronounceable stunners from Ágaetis Byrjun (‘Starálfur’, ‘Viõrar Vel Til Loftárasa’), Takk… (‘Hoppípolla’, ‘Saeglopur’) and Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (‘Festival’) – and everyone will be expecting one of the most memorable nights in a 2012 gig calendar already packed with big-name highlights.