''Shiver'' is the second studio album by Icelandic musician

Jónsi Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson (; 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 falsetto or count ...

, frontman of the

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

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 ...

. The album was released on 2 October 2020 via Krunk. It comes 10 years after his previous solo effort, '' Go''. It was made in collaboration with English music producer, singer and head of record label

PC Music PC Music is a record label and art collective based in London and run by producer A. G. Cook. It was founded in 2013, uploading its first releases to SoundCloud that year. Artists on its roster have included Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, Danny L H ...

, A. G. Cook. The album is 11 tracks long and features a largely electronic musical palette, differing from the music Jónsi has created in the past. It was supported by the singles "Exhale", "Swill", "Cannibal" and "Salt Licorice". It features collaborations with Scottish singer and vocalist of the band

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music, rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 19 ...

Elizabeth Fraser Elizabeth Davidson Fraser (born 29 August 1963) is a Scottish singer. She was the vocalist for the band Cocteau Twins, who achieved success in the UK from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. Their studio albums '' Victorialand'' (1986) and '' H ...

, and Swedish singer

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (; born 12 June 1979), known professionally as Robyn (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. Her 1995 debut album ''Robyn Is Here'' produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 single ...

. The album cover was shot by Barnaby Roper.

Background

On 8 May 2018, A. G. Cook took part in

' ''Liminal'' takeover on

NTS Radio NTS Radio (also known as NTS Live or simply NTS) is a music radio platform which was founded in 2011 in Hackney, East London by Femi Adeyemi "for an international community of music lovers". NTS was built as a platform to celebrate the eclec ...

. Cook shared remixes of Sigur Rós tracks, as well as demos for Jónsi, hinting at further collaboration between the two in the future. On 28 June 2019, Jónsi was interviewed by The Feed SBS, where he shared he had an upcoming collaboration with Swedish singer

for his next album, stating, "It's really good. It’s full on like thump, thump, thump.” On 3 April 2020, Jónsi took to Instagram to announce that he was releasing music later that month.

Release and promotion

On 14 April 2020, Jónsi announced his lead single off of ''Shiver'', "Exhale", would be released 23 April. "Exhale" was released with an accompanying music video, directed by Jónsi and Giovanni Ribisi. On 20 June, Jónsi announced another single, "Swill", set for release on 24 June. "Swill" was released with an accompanying music video, directed by Barnaby Roper. The same day, Jónsi announced that his second studio album ''Shiver'' would be released on 2 October of the same year; the album preorder and track listing were also made available. Jónsi wrote in a press release announcing the album: On 1 August, Jónsi began teasing another single release for the album, followed by another teaser on 8 August. On 12 August, Jónsi announced the release of "Cannibal", which features Scottish singer and vocalist of the band

, as the third single from the album, due for release on 14 August. It was released with an accompanying music video, directed by Jónsi and Giovanni Ribisi. Jónsi began releasing teasers for tracks on the album, beginning on 17 September, and ending on 24 September. Jónsi confirmed the release of the final single for the album, "Salt Licorice" featuring Swedish singer

, on 29 September. The single was released the next day on 30 September, with an accompanying music video directed by Jónsi & Rene van Pannevis, which Jónsi filmed in

lockdown A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

Track listing

All tracks written by Jónsi and produced by A. G. Cook and Jónsi, except where noted. Notes * signifies an additional producer *"Beautiful Boy" is a reworking of the track "TB8" by Frakkur, a Jónsi side project.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Jónsi's Instagram.

Additional performers

* Jack Armitage (track 6) *

Julianna Barwick Julianna Barwick is an American musician who composes using electronic loops. Her first album, '' The Magic Place'', was released in 2011. Music career Barwick has said that her music is influenced by her participation in church choir while gro ...

(track 4) * A. G. Cook (all tracks) *

(track 3) * Samuli Kosminen (tracks 3, 4, 7 and 10) * Mary Lattimore (track 4) *

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestra ...

(tracks 2 and 10) * Nicolas Petitfrère (tracks 2–6) *

(track 7)

Technical

* A. G. Cook – engineering (all tracks) * Nicolas Petitfrère – additional engineering (track 5) * Damon Reece – additional engineering (track 3) *

Alex Somers Alex Somers (born March 7, 1984) is an American visual artist and musician from Baltimore, Maryland, who attended Berklee College of Music and Listaháskóli Íslands. Somers lives and works in Los Angeles. Previously he ran a recording studio ...

– additional engineering (tracks 7, 8 and 10) * Geoff Swan – mixing (all tracks)

Design and artwork

* Sarah Hopper – design * Jónsi – design * Pandagunda – inside image * Barnaby Roper – cover photography, inside image

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Jónsi albums Albums produced by A. G. Cook