Icelandic orchestral rockers Sigur Rós already tried a more quiet and subduedapproach on 2007’s acoustic Heim, but here, frontman Jónsi Birgisson (along with his boyfriend, Alex Somers) aims for damn-near invisible. The duo’s debut plays like Sketches for Sigur, with whispering strings and synths floating calmly for long stretches, sometimes decorated with nonverbal vocalizing (“Indian Summer”). Mostly wordless and free of Birgisson’s trademark rapturous build-and-release, Riceboy Sleeps is more ideally suited for yoga poses or total headphone absorption.
