Valtari (, ) is the sixth studio album by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. It was released on 23 May 2012 by Parlophone. The album reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart and seven on the Billboard 200. The album was met with positive reviews as well with Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 36 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Two singles were released from the album, the first being for "Ekki múkk" released on 10-inch vinyl for Record Store Day, and the second being for "Varúð", as a limited edition 10-inch vinyl to coincide with their 2012 summer tour. Valtaris album cover is by Jónsi's sisters, Lilja and Inga Birgisdóttir. Inga was also the baby on the cover art for Sigur Rós' debut album Von.
Background
In the fall of 2008, after the release of their fifth studio album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, the band embarked on a world tour supporting their newly released album. The band played as a four-piece without Amiina and the brass band, the first time the band had played as a four-piece in seven years. The tour started on 17 September 2008 in the United States, at the United Palace Theater in New York City, and finished with a concert in Reykjavík at Laugardalshöll on 23 November 2008. The majority of the tour was European with the exception of concerts in the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan. The band then went on a break, with their manager saying it they were on an indefinite hiatus, although Jónsi commented saying "We'd been touring for so many years and we'd gotten tired so we took a break and the guys had babies." Jónsi released an album titled Riceboy Sleeps in 2009 with his partner Alex Somers, and then released a solo album titled Go the next year.
In August 2011, they announced the release of their new live double album Inni to be released on 7 November 2011. The recording is of the last show before they announced their "indefinite hiatus" at the end of 2008. It was recorded over two nights at London's Alexandra Palace. It was to be released as a DVD, on CD and vinyl. The film debuted at the Venice Film Festival on 3 September 2011. The album was then released on 7 November to critical acclaim. Commercially, it reached number 45 on the UK Albums Chart and number 73 on the Billboard 200.
Recording
Despite being on a break, the band began recording for the album in March 2009 with Alex Somers, with some of the songs dating from 2007. "Dauðalogn" and "Varðeldur" started being recorded during these sessions, except they began to "slow everything down". The band began to use a lot of their old music and add other parts to it, but said it was "not inspiring", so they scrapped it and began again. However, "Fjögur píanó" was made from a loop of some old material, which they kept. On 28 May 2009, Sigur Rós announced that they had almost completed recording their latest album. The unnamed album was expected to be released sometime in 2010. However, the band later revealed that the recordings had been scrapped. In a 2010 interview, Jónsi confirmed "We haven't got another album ready", he said. "It was just a rumour. We started to record something, but then we chucked it all away. So I think we are going to have to start it all again". Without further word on the new album, Sigur Rós were rumoured to be on indefinite hiatus as of January 2010. However, before taking the stage at Coachella in April 2010, Jónsi commented that Sigur Rós would be getting back to work that year: "I'm gonna record some other stuff with Sigur Rós when I'm home", between a series of shows during his solo tour in summer 2010. On 1 February 2011, Jónsi's official website announced that he would be back in the studio with the band over the spring.
Hólm also said of the album:
I really can't remember why we started this record, I no longer know what we were trying to do back then. I do know session after session went pear-shaped, we lost focus and almost gave up... did give up for a while. But then something happened and form started to emerge, and now I can honestly say that it's the only Sigur Rós record I have listened to for pleasure in my own house after we've finished it.