Since the worldwide release of their second album, "Aguis Byrjun," last year, Iceland's Sigur Ros has been dogged by more pretentious journalism than any pop group in history. Melody Maker took the cake when it described the group's music as "the sound of God weeping tears of gold in heaven."
Since only one of Sigur's four members speaks interview-level English, generally they can avoid having to explain their music (bassist Georg Holm, the one anglophone, in any case says they've never heard of half the bands they're compared to), which leaves them more time to work on it. Reportedly, Sigur's shows have already moved beyond the material on "Aguis Byrjun," but whether the playlist for their upcoming Japan tour is from their new record -- in the can since early spring but as yet unreleased -- no one knows.