Sin Fang – Flowers (2013) on Morr Music
Sonny Crooks & Jacob Dixon
Sonny: Sindri Már Sigfússon has found a mine. He’s steadily dug into the walls and brought his plunder up as two albums under the name Sin Fang Bous and Sin Fang respectively. Flowers is his third solo album, second under Sin Fang, and I’m beginning to believe that this mine is an endless chasm bursting melody from it’s veins and Sigfússon has found an even more efficient tool for it’s extraction; childlike euphoria.
Sometimes I feel like I’m cheating an artist when all I can do to critique them or describe them is to compare them to another, already established band. That’s not to say that Sin Fang isn’t established, you’ll come to see that he is and that’s part of the wonderful thing about this album, but it’s hard not to think of Animal Collective when listening to Flowers. There’s a childlike psychedelia that Sigfússon borrows from them that’s highly reminiscent of their early albums. Sin Fang doesn’t try so hard to assualt the senses and be experimental though; Sigfússon doesn’t aim to experiment; his artistic sensibilities live in a home built of experimental means, sure, but it’s still just a home.
The music on Flowers is unceasingly propulsive, as if it is working to mimic the growth of a bed of tulips and daisies in mid-spring or the chaos of growing up. There’s not a song on this album that is bad. There are a couple maybe that don’t connect with you like the others do–but you almost feel as if that’s your fault more than his. “When I grow up / I’m not going to be anybody,” Sindri Már Sigfússon sings on “Sunbeam”. Sigfússon, you already are somebody, and you’ve created a fantastic album that almost anyone can appreciate.
Rating: 9/10
Jacob: It seems like I have been listening to Sindri Már Sigfússon’s musical projects for much longer than the past 6 years, but that probably has to do with the heaping amounts of nostalgia and familiarity that are infused into his music.
It was in 2007 that I discovered Seabear with their debut full-length The Ghost That Carried Us Away, and while I wasn’t terribly impressed with We Have Built A Fire, I have always kept an eye out for anything else they may be doing. Rumor has it that they are currently working on their 3rd album, which says quite a bit about Sigfússon’s work ethic; as he just released his 3rd solo album, the first as Sin Fang Bous, and the most recent two as Sin Fang.
Flowers is an album that took me completely by surprise, showcasing a maturity of songwriting that is unseen on anything else that Sigfússon has released thus far. His work with Seabear was always a little more steeped in twee, whereas Flowers sounds as though Jónsi stepped down from his fronting duties and helped the rest of Sigur Rós back Kishi Bashi. It has all the pop sensibilities of 151a, but with the production nuances that are signature to albums like Sigur Rós’ ( ), even to the point of utilizing the heavily fuzzed out vocal production from tracks like “Untitled 1”.
What makes Flowers so wonderful though, is how free-spirited it is. Heavily percussive and orchestral with electronic nuances and dripping with pop sensibility, Flowers is the type of album that is the perfect companion to a warm summer night spent with friends that have nowhere else to be. It has an immediacy that makes it an instant classic; an album that is sticking around because it also has nowhere else to be.
Rating: 8.5/10
For Fans of: Animal Collective, Sigur Rós, Kishi Bashi
Key Tracks: What’s Wrong With Your Eyes, Catcher, Everything Alright
Imgnry Snds 