JONSI – OBSIDIAN (BLACK / GOLD) - LP •

Obsidian, Jónsi’s third studio album, originally released to coincide with his installation of the same name at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in NYC, is now available on vinyl for the first time. Co-produced and mixed by Paul Corley (Yves Tumor, Oneohtrix Point Never, Ben Frost, Koreless) and Nathan Salon, Obsidian follows a darker path than its predecessor, Shiver.

After lying dormant for nearly eight hundred years, the eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland served as the inspiration for both the record and the exhibition. Recorded and produced in tandem, the parallel formats inform one another and interweave through their embodiment of volcanic energies. Over the course of 10 tracks, each with evocative titles referencing sights, textures, and aromas of the ashen terrain, Jónsi takes his listeners through narrative arcs between erupting flares. Through an instinctual sensibility for layering vocals over orchestral passages, Jónsi masterfully collapses the boundaries between the senses. Velvety, musky notes of amber translate through deep, sustained progressions of the double bass. Similarly, sharp, tapered edges of obsidian glass register through piercing and frenetic digital bursts. And finally, in the manner of falling ashes, sounds of rushing winds and water cascade steadily over listeners, signalling a return to serenity, stillness, and recovery.

Anyone familiar with the name Jónsi associates it with disciplines of all forms. A founding member of Sigur Rós, he has also made music for film, as a solo artist, and as a duo, Jónsi and Alex Somers. His artistic talents span further than just music, from creating his own custom scents to wood-carving to formulating anti-anxiety CBD tinctures. Never limiting himself to a singular focus, Jónsi encapsulates the modern Renaissance artist: prolific, talented, and undaunted by new ideas.