Ágætis byrjun

Ágætis byrjun, released in 1999, is Sigur Rós's second studio album and is built around long, slow-building compositions that mix post-rock atmospherics with ambient textures, chamber pop arrangements, and experimental touches. The record features Jónsi Birgisson's high, reverb-soaked falsetto, bowed and heavily processed guitars, subtle percussion and string parts, and a cinematic sense of space that moves between sparse quiet and sweeping crescendos. It is widely regarded as the work that established the band's distinctive, ethereal sound and brought that more orchestral strand of post-rock to a broader audience.