Ragnarök ’n’ Roll
Written more than 18 years ago, Odin’s Raven Magic is the kind of thoughtful slice of Norse mythology only a band like Sigur Rós could get away with. In the band’s first interview for Prog, bassist Georg Hólm looks back at the making of a remarkable record, their remarkable past, and unclear future.
Words: Grant Moon Portrait: Eva Vermandel
L-R: Georg Hólm, Kjartan Sveinsson, Jónsi, Orri Páll Dýrason.
F
rom the front window of his Reykjavík home, Georg Hólm can see a beautiful mountain, just a 15-minute drive away. “There are a lot of desolate, colourful places in Iceland,” he says, “but drive through the landscape and two minutes later you’ll be in lush, soft green colours. Everything here seems like it’s made up of colours and ice.”
Iceland holds a singular place in the world’s cultural imagination. From its geography to its language, its myths to its music, this beautiful and desolate country feels familiar yet strangely alien, and remote almost to the point of aloofness. Sigur Rós couldn’t really have come from anywhere else.
Hólm’s English is excellent. He gives considered answers in soft yet decisive tones, and when Prog broaches the subject of how the band’s cultural identity has informed their music over their 27-year career, the bassist/ multi-instrumentalist politely stifles a laugh. “We often get asked this,” he says, “so all of us in the band have been able to contemplate it a lot. Always the environment you’re in will inspire you in some way, maybe not directly, but where you’re brought up – the hours you spend there and the landscape around you – definitely shapes people.”
“We’ve done so many different albums, it has always come naturally to us. It’s not often we go in and say we want to make this kind of record. We just write a bunch of songs and then realise, ‘Oh we have a full record here, we should release it.’”