Essential Albums: Sigur Rós - Ágætis byrjun

Sigur Rós’s “Ágætis byrjun” (1999) - the Icelandic post-rock masterpiece with cello-bowed guitars and invented language that redefined what atmospheric music could be.

Nov 19, 2025

Sigur Rós’s debut album Von sold just over 300 copies in 1997. Two years later, they released their second album and sold 10,000 copies in Iceland alone—earning platinum status in a country with a population of around 280,000.

Ágætis byrjun (translated as “A Good Beginning”) was recorded between summer 1998 and spring 1999 at the band’s Sundlaugin studio in the Icelandic countryside with producer Ken Thomas. The album represented a complete transformation from Von’s extended ambient soundscapes, replacing them with Jónsi Birgisson’s cello-bowed guitar work and orchestration using a double string octet amongst other chamber elements.

Released June 12, 1999, the album spent autumn climbing the Icelandic charts before resting at the top for weeks. It received a 2000 UK release and 2001 US release, eventually selling 227,000 copies in America alone and over 400,000 in Europe.

Pitchfork ranked it #2 on their best albums of 2000 (behind Radiohead’s Kid A) and #8 on their top 200 albums of the 2000s. Rolling Stone placed it #29 on their best albums of the 2000s.

But none of that explains why people cried the first time they heard it.

The Story Behind Ágætis byrjun

The band—vocalist and guitarist Jón Þór “Jónsi” Birgisson, keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson, bassist Georg “Goggi” Hólm, and drummer Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson—had a feeling the album they were working on was special but they couldn’t have had any idea just how far and wide Ágætis byrjun would travel.

Kjartan Sveinsson joined Sigur Rós in 1998 and proved crucial to the album’s sound. He is the only member of Sigur Rós with formal musical training, and contributed most of the orchestral and string arrangements. “There was more about describing the feel of a song, we used to work a lot like that back then,” Sveinsson recalls. “Rather than being conceptual and say something important, it was more about what the song was telling us to do. To me at least it was always like being underwater, like in a swimming pool, you dive to the bottom and you might just sit there and relax your body. You’re floating in space kind of.”

The release concert at the Icelandic Opera (Íslenska Óperan) on June 12, 1999—the same day the album came out—cost 70,000 króna to rent. “Which was a lot of money,” Sveinsson laughs. “We wanted strings, we had a grand piano there, we got the radio to record it. Even though we weren’t a big band or anything. It was all very ambitious.”

“It was a really fun concert and it was just I don’t know, sometimes concerts can be like something happens, a kind of magic. I think the audience felt it, we felt it, it was just important for us at least.”

Sigur Rós assembled and glued together the cases of the first print of Ágætis byrjun themselves. As a result, many of the CDs were unusable due to glue stains. The sketch of a human foetus on the cover was drawn by Gotti Bernhöft with a Bic Cristal ballpoint pen. The booklet includes the line: “Ég gaf ykkur von sem varð að vonbrigðum... þetta er ágætis byrjun” which translates to “I gave you hope that became a disappointment... this is a good beginning.” A reference to their previous releases, Von and Von brigði.

The Sound of Icelandic Post-Rock

Ágætis byrjun works because it sounds like nothing else—post-rock, but not as anyone knew it. So monumental and majestic and elegant. If Sigur Rós didn’t exist, no one would’ve thought to invent them—this was music that sounded like it had been beamed in from another galaxy.

Essential Tracks:

“Svefn-g-englar” (10:04) - The album’s calling card, a song that sounds like a spaceship landing in slow motion. The title combines “svefn” (sleep) and “englar” (angels), with a nod to “göngusvefn” (sleepwalking). Art rock ethereal and delicate in the way a snow-covered mountain looks delicate from a distance—until you realize its true scale.

“Starálfur” (6:47) - Stark orchestral drama that demonstrated how traditional chamber music could exist within post-rock without compromise. The track was later used in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, introducing Sigur Rós to an even wider audience.

“Olsen Olsen” (8:03) - Named after a Danish policeman who stopped the long-haired band on their way back from Roskilde festival, this track’s joyous choral singing brings its gentle sway to a climax that feels both deeply human and completely otherworldly. The track was later used in The Simpsons episode “The Saga of Carl” in 2013.

It didn’t matter that the majority of listeners couldn’t understand what Jónsi was singing, his vocals mostly delivered in Icelandic but also in his fictional Hopelandish, it was about the way he sang, a falsetto that sounded like it was battling the elements. It was the perfect voice for music rooted in emotional connection.

After the release of Ágætis byrjun, the band became known for Jónsi’s signature style of reverb accentuated guitar work using a cello’s bow—a technique that gave their sound its distinctive sustained, swooping quality that felt more like string orchestra than rock guitar.

Cultural Context in 1999

Ágætis byrjun arrived at the end of the 1990s, when post-rock was still finding its voice beyond the founding efforts of bands like Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Tortoise. While released to little fanfare initially, the album quickly gained radio exposure in Iceland before subsequently gaining strong international buzz with numerous articles in prominent publications, hype from internet message boards and blogs, as well as often exuberant reviews.

The album’s success was slow-burning, entirely in keeping with its musical content. In Iceland, a country of fewer than 300,000 people, selling 10,000 copies was a phenomenon. But Ágætis byrjun’s impact extended far beyond sales figures—it proved that music sung in Icelandic (and an invented language) could achieve international acclaim without compromise.

The album’s tracks began appearing in soundtracks: “Starálfur” in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, “Svefn-g-englar” in Vanilla Sky, setting a pattern that would continue throughout Sigur Rós’s career. This wasn’t background music—it was music that could elevate entire scenes, making the image serve the sound rather than vice versa.

Ágætis byrjun peaked at No. 24 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart and by 2008 had sold 227,000 copies in the US. In Europe it was upgraded to Platinum by Impala award for 400,000+ copies sold. For a band singing in Icelandic and invented language, these numbers represented something unprecedented.

Why Ágætis byrjun Is Essential

First, Ágætis byrjun created a new aesthetic template for atmospheric rock music. Post-rock had existed before, but not like this, so monumental and majestic and elegant. The album showed that rock music could incorporate classical chamber arrangements, bowed guitars, and invented languages while remaining emotionally direct and accessible.

Second, it proved that language barriers don’t matter when the music speaks its own emotional language. Jónsi’s falsetto and the band’s invented “Hopelandish” became tools for pure emotional expression rather than barriers to understanding. Critics noted that it’s a rare album that can induce tears on a first listen.

Finally, the album’s influence on atmospheric and post-rock music has been incalculable. Every band that’s since tried to create music that sounds “Icelandic” or “ethereal” owes a debt to Ágætis byrjun. The album established Iceland as a source of genuinely innovative music and opened international doors for countless Icelandic artists.

In 2019, the band released a 20th anniversary edition as a 4-CD box set and limited-edition 7-vinyl-album set, featuring early versions, demos, unreleased songs, and the complete Icelandic Opera concert recording—proof of the album’s enduring significance.

Essential Info:

• Release Date: June 12, 1999
• Label: Smekkleysa (Iceland), Fat Cat Records (UK/US)
• Genre: Post-Rock, Art Rock, Ambient
• Length: 10 Songs. Duration: 71 minutes

Musicians:

• Jón Þór “Jónsi” Birgisson - Guitar (cello bow technique), vocals (Icelandic and Hopelandish)
• Kjartan Sveinsson - Keyboards, flute, orchestral arrangements (joined 1998)
• Georg “Goggi” Hólm - Bass
• Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson - Drums (left band after album recording)
• Producer: Ken Thomas
• Additional: Double string octet and various chamber musicians
• Cover Art: Gotti Bernhöft (fetus drawing, Bic Cristal pen)

Where to Listen:

• Bandcamp - Official Sigur Rós page
• Spotify - Full album available
• Apple Music - Complete experience with liner notes
• YouTube - Including official music videos
• Physical: Original 2LP vinyl, 20th Anniversary Edition (2019) 4-CD box set or 7-vinyl set with demos and live recordings
• Note: First pressing CDs often have glue stains from band hand-assembling them

The Sound Vault Verdict

Ágætis byrjun is that rare album that creates its own universe—a sonic world so complete and distinctive that everything else sounds different after experiencing it. At a time when post-rock was establishing its vocabulary, Sigur Rós introduced an entirely new dialect.

This is essential listening not because it’s a perfect post-rock album, but because it expanded what post-rock could mean. Instead of dynamics and crescendos alone, Sigur Rós showed that the genre could embrace classical orchestration, invented languages, and emotional directness without losing its experimental edge.

In our current moment where genre boundaries mean less than ever, Ágætis byrjun reminds us that the most innovative music often comes from places far from industry centers, made by artists willing to trust their own vision completely. Sigur Rós didn’t try to sound like anything else—they created their own language, both literally and musically.

Twenty-five years later, it still sounds like a transmission from somewhere both ancient and impossibly futuristic. That’s exactly what makes it essential.

Explore Further:

If Ágætis byrjun resonates with you:

Jónsi - Go (Jónsi’s solo debut explores similar territory with more color)
Múm - Finally We Are No One (Fellow Icelanders’ electronic-acoustic dreamscapes)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (Post-rock’s other monumental achievement)