For their first journey to the States, it looks as though the festival is sticking to the highly selective boutique ethos on which its name has been built domestically, with the cream of the indie pop crop making their way to Laneway stages in September. Along with the abovementioned acts, we’re also going to see the likes of Deerhunter, Charli XCX, Icona Pop (guest appearances, anyone?!), AlunaGeorge, CHVRCHES and Frightened Rabbit hitting Detroit. The full lineup is below.

This is, of course, not the first year the festival has ventured forth from the alleys of metropolitan Australia to take on the international market, with events in Singapore and New Zealand precursors to the Detroit outing. It seems as though the next international edition of Laneway will itself be a satellite to a larger festival in Detroit called Meadow Brook Music Festival, named after the site of the event, described as “rolling green fields on the campus of Oakland University”.

Detroit is going through a lot of changes right now, economically and socially, and Laneway co-founder Danny Rogers reckons that’s just the fit for his festival:

“Detroit is having its rebirth and as Laneway continues to evolve, we can identify with a city that continuing to evolve as well… It seemed like a great fit and this lineup seals it.”

The festival takes place on 14th September in Detroit, Michigan. Tickets go on sale at 10am Saturday, 18th May (Detroit local time). Go to the official site for more details.

Watch: St Jerome’s Laneway Festival lineup announcement

St Jerome’s Laneway Festival Detroit 2013 lineup
Sigur Ros
The National
AlunaGeorge
Charli XCX
Chet Faker
CHVRCHES
Deerhunter
The Dismemberment Plan
Flume
Frightened Rabbit
Haerts
Icona Pop
My Brightest Diamond
Phosphorescent
Run The Jewels (EL-P + Killer Mike)
Savages
Solange
Warpaint
Washed Out
Youth Lagoon

The Icelandic ambient post-rockers obviously enjoyed their first TV appearance in over a decade, as they’ve signed on to get animated in the 2-part episode, which will air in the US on 19th May. They’re even expected to cover the show’s theme song, according to Morgunblaðið, the country’s daily newspaper.

Sigur Rós are the latest in a long line of musicians to feature on the long-running cartoon, including Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, Daft Punk and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. They release their seventh studio album, Kveikur, on 17th June.

Already the band have set the scene of their upcoming release with sprawling cinematic epic Brennisteinn and the emotional cocoon that is Valtari, both of which were accompanied by brilliant videos. Ísjaki, however, stands out from the two singles that preceded it. It could be said that the track is far more radio friendly thanks to a lack of the band’s typical minimalist instrumentation. The conventional structure of the song makes it catchy and uplifting.

There isn’t an official clip to compliment Ísjaki as yet but the band have posted a lyric video which you can check out below.

LISTEN: Sigur Rós – Ísjaki

The website Íslendingabók, which literally translates to Book Of Icelanders, has a database of 720,000 different people born in the country within a certain period of time, writes News Of Iceland, which is more than twice the current population, sitting around 320,000. With that knowledge, it’s able to link everyone to just about anyone. What’s more, all citizens can access the information for free via an app, which I suppose is the right thing to do in this sort of situation.

Apart from the obvious negatives, there are a few upsides to this. One being that all Icelanders are officially related to Björk, the other being all Icelanders are officially related to Sigur Rós and hey, that’s pretty cool, right?

Don’t be so quick to judge, we’ve all had that moment at a relative’s birthday where the hot chick you’ve been speaking to turns out to be a distant cousin. But the app means that from this point forth, at least Icelanders can check before swapping bodily fluids with their relo and the addition of a ‘bump’ feature is both comical, and functional.

Last night we heard Kveikur, the name sake of the forthcoming album and much like you’d expect from Sigur Rós. Brennisteinn carries on in a much similar manner, but when you’re onto a good thing, there’s no need to change it up. However, Brennisteinn is at times more aggressive and direct, showing that Sigur Rós might be using Kveikur as an opportunity to explore previously uncharted regions of their soundscape.

The clip itself is more of the usual from Sigur Rós, but once again, it’s going to be a while before anything that comes from the collective minds of Sigur Rós gets old. The band tagged Andrew Huang as director for the below clip.

Australia has been given the release date of Friday, 14th June, but we are sure to see the odd single between now and then to tide us over.

The band played the title track from their forthcoming album Kveikur, due for release locally on June 14. The guys dropped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon while they are in New York preparing for their show at Madison Square Garden on Monday (US Time).

The performance was a pretty grandiose affair – with a mini-orchestra of string and horn players joining the guys to re-create the bombastic-sounding track. Prior to last night’s performance, the band had only performed the song at various shows over the last few months.

Check out the performance of Kveikur below. Sigur Ros have dates booked all over the globe through until November, but no Australian shows are listed yet. Keep your eyes peeled.

Watch: Sigur Ros – Kveikur on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon:

As the aroma of excitement filled the famous venue, support act Blanck Mass took the stage; however, the lingering sense of excitement quickly changed into boredom as an aural clusterfuck ensued. In what can only be described as a hybrid of samples from the Amazonian Rainforest, GarageBand, and the Apollo 13 mixed with what I’m assuming would be the result of an individual head butting a midi pad repeatedly, it wasn’t long before the crowd lost interest. It was a shame as well, as Blanck Mass’ studio tracks are some of the best electronic sounds England has exported in the past few months. I’m sure to the right ear, the aforementioned sounds may be described as sensational; however, it was clear that none of those ears were present.

Masked behind a set of translucent projector screens, the Icelandic outfit left the crowd spellbound as they opened into their latest unreleased track Yfirborð, and it quickly became evident that their live performance knew no bounds. Sourcing material from six of their studio albums, the trio celebrated their 19-year history showcasing tracks from Ágætis byrjun to last year’s Valtari.

Bringing the likes of Fljótavík, E-Bow and Sæglópur to life, the performance began to peak as the opening piano sequence of Hoppípolla radiated throughout the Academy’s main room. As the piece picked up dynamically, it brought the spirits of punters with it as the crowd entered a unique sense of bliss. Instead of the herbs, euphoria was the drug of choice that evening.

This state of ecstasy was solidly maintained for several songs as the ambient sounds of Festival begun. Yet it wasn’t until the unparalleled power of Georg Hólms’ bass boomed through the speakers that this emotion was doubled. The coordination of music and visual displays only acted in favour of the performance, enhancing the spectacle that proceeded to unfold.

It must be noted, however, as obvious as it is, that the sensation that is Sigur Ros is not purely conveyed through the musical ability of their frontman Jonsi. The array of musical abilities displayed from the three members to the eleven-piece band accumulated to create something truly special. Describing it as a vivid musical showcase of breathtaking proportions does not do it justice. It’s no secret that I adore Sigur Ros; however, their performance was so powerful that even a critic would have been converted.

To be short, it comes down to the nature of the performance. If, and I emphasise if, a mistake was made that evening, it went unnoticed. Forged into the performance, making it all the more unique, the power and ability of Sigur Ros merged into an unforgettable experience. It was an experience that saw the spectator reach the aforementioned sense of nirvana, which is nearly impossible to recreate outside of said venue. Maybe it’s music, or maybe it was the setting; however, I believe that a solid majority of witnesses to the spectacle that unfolded before them would attribute it to the power of Sigur Ros, the most unique band on the planet.

Although no album title was announced as such, Sigur Rós are trending the record via the hashtag #SR7. The Icelandic 3-piece also posted a preview (included below) of a song from what will be their 7th studio album. Based on the preview, it would seem Sigur Rós have gone a little industrial for a much heavier sound.

The news of another new album may come as a surprise, being that Sigur Rós have traditionally released records with a 3-to-4-year gap in-between. The post rock outfit were in Australia recently for Harvest 2012. Will another new album mean another Australian tour? Let’s hope so.

Listen: Sigur Rós – Preview from #SR7

Incorporating two tracks Rembihnútur and Ekki múkk to form one clip titled Seraph, Dash Shaw and John Cameron Mitchell, the creators, have composed an animation-based film that can be taken as a little ‘pro-nudism’ in one way, but more likely the effect on our own choice of freedom being squashed by those around us.

The clip starts out with a boy who is playing in the garden and decides to ‘nude up’ while drawing in the sand. His father spots him and decides to give him a religious lesson on why naked flesh is a bad thing in the eyes of God. The next time we see him, he’s getting picked on by a bunch of nudists who don’t tolerate him wearing clothes one bit.

The kid just can’t win can he, and eventually turns to a life of cutting himself regularly and committing violent crime. I’m not sure if it’s all supposed to be a metaphor for something, but it goes to show exactly what the point of the ‘Valtari’ Mystery Film Experiment is all about. Taking the Icelandic band’s ethereal songs and finding your own interpretation for them.

Sigur Rós will be in Australian this November touring on the Harvest Festival lineup.