"Hljómalind" is a song by the

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic band

Sigur Rós Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band that formed in 1994 in Reykjavík. It comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Jónsi, Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal soun ...

from their 2007 album '' Hvarf/Heim''. It was released on heavyweight 7" vinyl as the album's first single (in Europe only) on 29 October 2007. The B-side of the single features a live acoustic version of the song "Starálfur". It reached #91 on the UK Singles Chart. The band had performed the track live as a ''work in progress'' since 1999, when it was written as part of the

Ágætis byrjun (, ''A good beginning'') is the second studio album by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, released on 12 June 1999. The album was recorded between the summer of 1998 and the spring of 1999 with producer Ken Thomas. represented a substantial d ...

studio sessions. It was originally called "Rokklagið" ("The Rock Song"). The song wasn't released until 2007, when it was recorded in studio, and featured on the Hvarf album as ''Hljómalind''. Before choosing this name, the song had the working title "The Rabbit and the Prince" (named after two friends of the band, Kiddi Kanína (or Kiddi The Rabbit) and sometime Sigur Rós roadie Valgarður "Valli" Bragason). "Hljómalind" was a record store in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

which was run by Kristinn "Kiddi Kanína" Sæmundsson, the band's then-manager. The record shop started out as a mail-order operation, partially run from the Reykjavík flea market Kolaportið. It was for a time Iceland's only Indie Rock record store. The shop moved two times before ending up on Laugavegur 21, where it ran for many years before closing in 2003. The organic co-op café Kaffi Hljómalind later opened on the premises. The Hljómalind house is currently occupied by Kaffibrennslan, a café and sandwich shop. The name "Hljómalind" is made up of two words, "hljóma-", which means sounds or chords, and "-lind", which means fountain, spring or well. It could be translated as "a wellspring of sounds" or "a fountain of music".

Track listing

7" SINGLE UK

#"Hljómalind" – 4:02 #"Starálfur" (live acoustic) – 5:28

CD PROMO UK

#"Hljómalind" – 4:02 #"Starálfur" (live acoustic) – 5:28 #"Hljómalind" (instrumental) – 4:57

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hljomalind 2007 singles Sigur Rós songs Songs in Icelandic 2007 songs EMI Records singles Songs written by Jónsi Songs written by Orri Páll Dýrason Songs written by Georg Hólm Songs written by Kjartan Sveinsson