Takk... by Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós Takk...

81
ChoruScore Critic consensus / 100

Released Sep 12, 2005 Krunk

Established consensus 25 professional reviews Updated Aug 25, 2026

Broadly positive consensus

Sigur Rós's Takk...

How ChoruScore works

Critics' Top Tracks

The songs critics returned to most

01

Hoppípolla

6 critic mentions

“The following three tracks don't shift it, delightful as they are - a playful regression into childish charm” — No Ripcord
02

Svo hljótt

2 critic mentions

“Svo hljótt" is a moving, emotional piece.” — Sputnik Music
03

Sæglópur

5 critic mentions

“the steamy "Sæglópur" tiptoes from piano and tinny glockenspiel to a breathtaking vocal harmony” — Pitchfork
Full critic consensus

Sigur Rós's Takk... opens like a benediction, a record of orchestral warmth and glacial atmosphere that balances soaring melody with inscrutable vocal distance. Across professional reviews, critics point to the album's cinematic soundscapes and slow-build climaxes as its chief strengths, and the consensus suggests Takk... largely succeeds at turning grand gestures into moments of genuine catharsis. The collection earned an 81.28/100 consensus score across 25 professional reviews, a signal that reviewers consistently found more reward than frustration here.

Critics repeatedly flag several standout tracks as proof of the record's appeal: “Hoppípolla” for its hopeful piano resonance and childlike wonder, “Glósóli” for its nervous, system-shaking swell, and “Sæglópur” for an overwhelming, cathartic climax. Reviews from Pitchfork, The Guardian, Hot Press and others praise the orchestral textures, strings-and-piano arrangements and ethereal vocals that render these songs both accessible and mythic. At the same time, a few reviewers note moments of bemused distance or meandering - examples include quieter pieces like “Sé Lest” and “Mílanó” - producing a tension between accessibility and mystique that some critics found tantalizing and others found slight.

Weighing the praise and reservation, the critical consensus frames Takk... as a triumphant exercise in grandeur and melodic accessibility, a record whose best songs emerge as radiant payoffs amid feedback and hush. Below, the reviews unpack how those cinematic peaks make Takk... a memorable chapter in Sigur Rós's catalogue and why many consider it worth seeking out.

Track Ratings

How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.

View:
1

Takk...

2 mentions
95
01:57
2

Glósóli

6 mentions
96
06:15
3

Hoppípolla

6 mentions
100
04:28
4

Með Blóðnasir

0 mentions
—
02:17
5

Sé lest

4 mentions
30
08:40
6

Sæglópur

5 mentions
99
07:38
7

Mílanó

4 mentions
15
10:25
8

Gong

3 mentions
28
05:33
9

Andvari

2 mentions
30
06:40
10

Svo hljótt

2 mentions
100
07:24
11

Heysátan

2 mentions
41
04:09

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What Critics Are Saying

Deep insights from 25 critics who reviewed this album

100

Critic's Take

Sigur Rós's Takk... feels like the band returned to strange, spooky praise, with songs that swell into orchestral grandeur. The reviewer's ecstatic voice singles out the album's sweeping, ineffably beautiful moments, notably “Hoppípolla” as emblematic of that blissful lift. Language about glaciers, geysers and Jónsi's unearthly falsetto frames why fans search for the best songs on Takk... - the record's best tracks are its cinematic, hymn-like peaks. The tone is hyperbolic and delighted, insisting these are among Sigur Rós's most mesmeric moments.

Key Points

  • Hoppípolla best encapsulates the album's soaring, hymn-like orchestral beauty.
  • The album's core strengths are its unearthly falsetto, grand orchestration and evocative Icelandic imagery.

Themes

ethereal beauty orchestral grandeur otherworldly vocals Icelandic landscape imagery
Sputnik Music logo

Sputnik Music

Unknown
Unknown date
100

Critic's Take

In this ecstatic appraisal the reviewer frames Sigur Rós's Takk... as a restorative rite, singling out “Sæglópur” and “Hoppípolla” as the record's emotional fulcrums. The prose is reverent and personal - the climax of “Sæglópur” "filled the very confines of my soul" and “Hoppípolla” supplies the hopeful piano resonance that makes these the best tracks on Takk.... The reviewer praises the band's slow-build to explosive catharsis and calls the album a cleansing, life-affirming experience that repeatedly restores them.

Key Points

  • The best song is "Sæglópur" because its climax is described as soul-filling and transformative.
  • The album's core strength is its slow-build to cathartic climaxes that produce emotional cleansing and renewal.

Themes

renewal catharsis slow-build climaxes hope

Sp

Spin

Unknown
Unknown date
100

Critic's Take

Sigur Rós return on Takk... with an unexpectedly accessible set of songs that trade their usual opacity for radio-sized emotional surges. Jonathan Keefe writes that the band often resembles the outsized pop of Radiohead's The Bends and Coldplay, and he singles out “Sé lest” and “Mílanó” as examples of tracks where the music "threatens to disappear into the ether" then "roars back". The result is music that is beautiful simply for the sake of being beautiful, which makes the best tracks on Takk... feel like unqualified successes. This is a review that frames the album's best songs as moments of orchestral payoff and emotional clarity rather than lyrical profundity.

Key Points

  • The best song is best because its ebb-and-flow structure produces powerful emotional payoffs.
  • The album's core strength is its orchestral swells and sheer beauty, making songs more accessible.

Themes

accessibility orchestral swell beauty for its own sake

Ho

80

Critic's Take

Sigur Rós have given us Takk..., an album where proper songs sit alongside sweeping tides of feedback, and the best tracks - especially “Hoppípolla” and “Glósóli” - carry the listener into those fathomless places. Ed Power’s prose insists these are recognizably melodic pieces, nursery-rhyme choruses washed in brutalized volume, so the best songs on Takk... feel both accessible and vast. The record’s charms are simple: let the crescendos take you, stop asking questions, and let Sigur Rós carry you away. This is how to find the best tracks on Takk... - listen for the melodies that bloom amid the noise.

Key Points

  • Hoppípolla stands out because its nursery-rhyme choruses and proper-song structure crystallize the album’s melodic appeal.
  • Takk... balances sweet melodies with extreme volume and feedback, making beauty feel inscrutable and transportive.

Themes

beauty inscrutability volume and noise melody vs. extremity

Critic's Take

Sigur Rós have stitched something near-religious into Takk..., and the best songs - notably “Svo hljótt” and “Glósóli” - embody that monumental, breathless passion. The reviewer’s tone is half-wry, half-awed, likening “Svo hljótt” to Gandalf’s death scene as reimagined by operatic beasts, while “Glósóli” delivers nervous, system-shaving shivers. This is not idle praise - ordinary listeners meet extraordinary songs here, the record sounding satisfyingly yearning across its 65 minutes. Read as a whole, Takk... feels like a mythic, glacial triumph that rewards immersion.

Key Points

  • The best song, “Svo hljótt”, is singled out as a 'choice cut' with epic, operatic grandeur.
  • The album's strength is its mythic, glacial atmosphere and emotionally overwhelming arrangements.

Themes

monumental beauty mythic imagery glacial atmosphere emotional intensity

Critic's Take

Sigur Rós's Takk... finds the band softened without surrendering mystery, and the review zeroes in on three best tracks as proof. The title track “Takk...” shimmers like shards of light, giving the album its luminous opening and making it one of the best songs on Takk.... “Glósóli” is described as wrenching the listener from a glorious dream, a driving best track that contrasts the gentler moments. “Hoppípolla” sighs with childhood inquisitiveness, and that sense of wonder helps explain why these are the best tracks on the record.

Key Points

  • The title track “Takk...” is the album's most luminous moment and anchors the record.
  • The album's strengths are its lush string-and-piano arrangements and a newfound accessibility that deepens the band's mystique.

Themes

ethereal pop-rock accessibility vs mystique strings and piano textures childlike wonder
Mojo logo

Mojo

Unknown
Unknown date
80

Critic's Take

Andy Kellman notes that on Takk... the band leans into active arrangements while retaining those otherworldly vocals; the review highlights “Sæglópur” and “Sé Lest” as the album's best songs, with “Sæglópur” delivering a cathartic blast and “Sé Lest” serving as a fragile, fluttering lullaby briefly crashed by gleeful brass. Kellman's tone is measured and descriptive, emphasizing extended cresting and sudden bursts of action as reasons these tracks stand out. For queries about best tracks on Takk..., his pick is clear: the dramatic momentum of “Sæglópur” and the delicate charm of “Sé Lest” make them the album's top moments.

Key Points

  • The best song is “Sæglópur” for its cathartic eruption and representative active arrangements.
  • The album's core strengths are dynamic contrasts, otherworldly vocals, and tactile, orchestral textures.

Themes

dynamic contrasts otherworldly vocals orchestral arrangements tactile atmospheres

Critic's Take

In Amanda Petrusich’s view, Sigur Rós’s Takk... returns to the sticky melodies of earlier work while sounding warmer and more orchestral. She singles out “Glósóli” as the record’s shining center, a rapturous, tinkling swirl that bursts into a deafening, distorted climax, and praises “Sæglópur” for its breathtaking vocal harmony and ominous swell. Petrusich is frank where the band falters too, calling tracks like “Sé lest” and “Mílanó” vaguely hollow or meandering, but overall she finds Takk... ecstatic and more accessible, perfect for late summer listening.

Key Points

  • The best song is “Glósóli” because its slow build and explosive climax make it the album’s emotional center.
  • Takk... succeeds by trading gloom for warmer orchestration, clearer melodies, and more immediate songcraft.

Themes

orchestral warmth melodic accessibility ebb and flow Icelandic atmosphere

Critic's Take

The review reads as affectionate but disappointed, noting the band's armoury of familiar tricks now feels a touch complacent. For listeners searching for the best songs on Takk..., Roylance points you to “Sæglópur”, with “Hoppípolla” and “Glósóli” as notable highlights.

Key Points

  • Sæglópur is the album's emotional peak, delivering a devastating, galvanised climax that redeems the record's complacency.
  • The album's core strengths are its signature orchestral swells and moments of intimate resonance, though here they feel familiar and occasionally kitschy.

Themes

nostalgia melancholic grandeur kitsch vs. sincerity expectation and disappointment

Critic's Take

Sigur Rós's Takk... mostly succeeds as a hushed, cinematic record, and the best songs on Takk... Even when she likens “Sé lest” to Coldplay in a dream world, the tone remains admiring but mildly bemused, noting the music's devotion to atmosphere over overt hooks. Overall the album is praised for its seamless flow and filmic quality, while the critic still wishes the band would occasionally let loose and rock out a little.

Key Points

  • The album's core strength is its cinematic, atmospheric flow that blends songs into a seamless soundscape.

Themes

atmosphere cinematic soundscapes vocal distance orchestral textures