Go (Jónsi album)

Go
Studio album by Jónsi
Released	31 March 2010 (2010-03-31) (in Japan)
Recorded	Summer 2009 at Jónsi's house in Reykjavík, and at Tarquin Studios, in Connecticut.
Genre	Post-rock, baroque pop
Length	40:17
Label	XL Recordings, Parlophone
Producer	Jónsi, Alex Somers, Peter Katis
Jónsi chronology
Riceboy Sleeps (2009) Go (2010)
Singles from Go
"Go Do" Released: 21 March 2010 "Animal Arithmetic" Released: 24 May 2010[1]

Go is the second studio album by Icelandic musician Jónsi, frontman of the band Sigur Rós. The album was released on 5 April 2010, through XL Recordings,^[2] as reported by a downloadable track from the official site.^[3] The fourth track of the album, "Boy Lilikoi", was released for free from Jónsi's website, available to those subscribing to the website's mailing list.

According to a late 26 May 2009 post on Sigur Rós official site, the album features predominantly acoustic music and string arrangements from composer Nico Muhly. The album was co-produced by Alex Somers, Peter Katis and Jónsi himself, during summer 2009, in Reykjavík and Connecticut.^[4] A worldwide tour across North America and Europe also took place upon the album's release from April–May 2010, featuring Jónsi performing songs from the album and a "unique, cinematic" performance stage designed by 59 Productions.

"Kolniður" was featured at the end of the Criminal Minds sixth season episode "Lauren" and in a trailer for Real Steel. "Around Us" was included on the FIFA 11 soundtrack^[5] and the trailer for the Disney dub of The Secret World of Arrietty.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[7]
The A.V. Club	(A-)[8]
BBC	(average)[9]
Clash	(9/10)[10]
Drowned in Sound	(9/10)[11]
musicOMH	[12]
onethirtybpm	(87%)[13]
Pitchfork Media	(8.1/10)[14]
PopMatters	[15]
The Skinny	[16]
Slant Magazine	[17]
Spin	[18]

Go has received mostly positive reviews from critics, scoring a 76/100 on the music review aggregator website Metacritic.^[6] Most reviews praise Muhly's precise arrangements and Jónsi's flighty vocals, while a few lukewarm reviews discuss the album's lack of cohesion. The album has reached number twenty on the UK Albums Chart,^[19] number twenty-three on the Billboard 200 in the United States,^[20] number six on the Belgian (Flanders) Ultratop chart,^[21] number thirty-one on the Swiss Albums Top 100,^[21] number seventy-four on the Italian Music Chart^[22] and number eighty-four on the Dutch Mega Album Top 100.^[21]

Track listing

1. "Go Do" – 4:41
2. "Animal Arithmetic" – 3:24
3. "Tornado" – 4:15
4. "Boy Lilikoi" – 4:30
5. "Sinking Friendships" – 4:42
6. "Kolniður" – 3:56
7. "Around Us" – 5:18
8. "Grow till Tall" – 5:21
9. "Hengilás" – 4:15

Japanese bonus track^[23]

1. "Sinking Friendships (Acoustic)" – 4:00
2. "Tornado (Acoustic)" – 3:57

Personnel

• Jón Þór Birgisson – vocals, sampler, guitar, piano, ukulele, glockenspiel
• Samuli Kosminen – drums, percussion, kalimba, harp
• Nico Muhly – piano, celeste, glockenspiel, string arrangement, brass arrangement, wind arrangement
• Alex Somers – guitar, piano, celeste, glockenspiel, sampler

Additional musicians

• Hideaki Aomori – clarinet
• Edward Burns – bassoon
• Christa Robinson – oboe, English horn
• Alexandra Sopp – flutes
• William Lang – bass trombone
• David Nelson – trombone
• David Byrd-Marrow, Kate Sheeran – French horn
• Caleb Burhans, Courtney Orlando – violin
• Nadia Sirota, John Pickford Richards – viola
• Clarice Jenson, Brian Snow – cello
• Logan Coale – double bass

Technical

• Jón Þór Birgisson – writer, producer
• Alex Sommers – producer
• Peter Katis – producer, engineer
• Greg Giorgio – assistant engineer

References