Most of their previous work has been sung in a made-up language called Hopelandic. Their last disc was called () and was free of song titles. And their glacially paced, ethereal tunes would have made a fine soundtrack to an indie film about committing suicide beneath the northern lights.

By contrast, Takk ..., the fourth studio album from Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Ros, is almost wildly commercial. Which is to say: Not in the slightest.

Now, we are told, they sing in Icelandic (as if we could tell the diff). Songs have names -- albeit names like Andvari and Glosoli. And most importantly, here and there amid the frozen windswept landscape of twinkling pianos, lush guitars, sombre strings and singer-guitarist Jon Thor Birgisson's indecipherable angelic cooing, the band almost -- almost -- build up enough steam to deliver a melody that doesn't take five minutes to repeat, along with a beat that will wake you up instead of lulling you to slumber.

That's still a million light-years from the pop charts -- but we suspect it's as close as these freaky ice monkeys are ever gonna get.

Track Listing: