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By Dennis Cook
An air of icy sophistication hovers over the former GusGus singer's solo debut, which sifts the pastoral through a modernity sieve, the course and wild snagged by a technological mesh. Others have panned these silvery waters – The Blue Nile, David Sylvian, Looper – but rarely with as much success.
GusGus is the other Icelandic band most North Americans know besides Sigur Ros and Bjork/Sugarcubes. Marrying subliminal electronics to an undeniably poppy mindset, GusGus made a small splash in the States and a larger one in Europe. Alone, Daníel Ágúst sounds almost nothing like his past. With cold hands and a warm heart, he sculpts soft notes somewhat similar to Iron & Wine. There's surprising density underpinning lyrics like "Take me into the soft moss. Take me to the amorphous. Drive me into the highlands," which Ágúst croons in a more lubricated version of Leonard Cohen's venerable creak.
Turbulent strings slice the liquid atmosphere, boiling and quivering unexpectedly, often settling into achingly lovely denouements. There's a mock classical bent that favorably recalls contemporary symphonic composers like Henryk Górecki and Arvo Part. Thankfully, Ágúst punctures his high-minded tendencies with train station conversations, forest noises and other found textures that keep the sap flowing smoothly on one of the best slow burners to emerge from the Arctic Circle in some time.
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