So, there’s been an awful lot of chatter about Sigur Rós and their decidedly bright and shiny new single entitled Gobbledigook – some are aghast, some are in favour. Me? I’m sitting on the fence for the moment – I’m pretty sure I don’t mind it, but then again I’m pretty sure they could have done better too.

Much attention has also been given to the fact that the album also features the four typically shy and retiring Icelanders in the buff, enjoying nature like the hippies do. Well, good on them I guess. And there was me thinking it didn’t get warm enough in Iceland to do that kind of thing.

Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaustis (for, behold, that is the new album’s name) is coming out on the 23rd of June. If you order it from the band’s website then you get the full album as a download on the 16th.

Here’s the thing though: the band have recognized the changing shape of the music biz and are offering the album to stream in full in the lead-up to the release. That’s a Good Thing in my books.

The more-official-than-most-unofficial-sites 18 Seconds Before Sunrise have a page dedicated to the stream offered by the band’s record company. They also offer full liner notes and credits, and various other interesting tidbits of information, so it’s worth keeping open as you listen to the album. Just make sure you open the links in a new window or your aural pleasures will be frequently interrupted.

For the scrobbleholics, the album is also available as a stream on Last.FM which is a pleasant nod to the site’s growing influence. Update: turns out this stream is substantially higher quality than the one on the official site, so use this if you can.

So, the album? Well, it certainly seems to continue the band’s trend started on Takk… towards making music that appeals to a wider audience. Thus far, however, it doesn’t seem to tread much new ground – certainly not in the way Gobbledigook seemed to. Generally speaking a lot of the songs sound more like songs than ever before, but the many of the tracks are still centred around ambient explorations overlaid with Jonsi’s crooning. The sounds are still pristine, and the band are still capable of everything they’ve always been able to do, but on first listens I wonder if this is enough of a move onwards to retain our interest. That’s not my final opinion, and only time will tell…