You Can Be My Wave

At the conclusion of my last Jónsi review, I hoped that I wouldn't have to wait ten years for another solo record. I was pleasantly surprised by the futuristic direction Shiver went in and was very curious to see where he would go next. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait ten years, in fact, Obsidian arrived just a little over a year after his last record. You'd think that with both records being so close in proximity to each other, they must have a large stylistic overlap. Surprisingly, that's not really the case since this record is far more ambient and cinematic; sharing a lot of characteristics with projects like Sigur Rós' Valtari or Jónsi & Alex Somers's Riceboy Sleeps. While Jónsi still does this sound quite well and can still, for the most part, create compelling music, this is the first time where I am getting a sense of déjà vu.

This sense is almost instant with the opening track Vikur which sounds very similar to the opening on his last record; an almost identical vocal phrase and melody with a pumped up atmosphere as a backdrop, stretched out to patient lengths. The following track, Ambrox is also not very novel but does feature some great vocals with a slight formant shift and a soothing melody. The last half of the song sees a bit of a stylistic change that is very close to his work with Alex Somers. There's some nature field recording type sounds mixed with some metallic string scraping and some curious twinkling pianos.

The record goes on to deliver one tasteful new age, ambient offering after the next - with exception for Cypriol who's deep tremolo pulsing and frequency sweeps I found to be headache inducing - but I can't really think of a song that really offered something truly standout and uniquely memorable. It's nice to put on in the background and chill out to, but it is by no means deeply affecting, attention grabbing, or offering anything new in terms of sound play. While certainly not terrible, Jónsi has put out so many quality projects that it is easy to consider Obsidian to be one of his weakest, least inspired, efforts to date.