Send "Seabear " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Musicomh |
 When you put out a debut album as charming and understated as Seabear's brilliantly homespun debut, The Ghost That Carried Us Away, the follow-up is inevitably plagued by nervousness and rife with sophomore-slump potential. But Iceland's Seabear have topped themselves handily with their stunning (really, stunning) follow-up, We Built A Fire.On their first outing, it was fairly obvious that Seabear was the brainchild of one man, Sindri Már Sigfússon (who's been called the Icelandic Beck, perplexingly), and his whispered presence permeated everything on the album, so much so that it would have been easy to mistake him for a one-man band. But On We Built A Fire the band's six instrumentalists are allowed to shine - to glimmer, even - creating a wholly organic and breathtaking work of synergistic songcraft. If its music is any indication, Iceland is a far-off place that's still alive with magic and glacial faeries, where the rising sun still symbolises something mystical and awe-inspiring. Seabear do share some sonic similarities with their compatriots Sigur Rós. But where Sigur Rós deal in otherworldly etherealisms and made-up language (beautiful and unattainable as it is), Seabear take a markedly more down-to-earth approach to their achingly fragile pop tunes....full text |
| Drownedinsound |
| Icecaps cover more than three-quarters of Greenland; meanwhile in Iceland ‘summers are surprisingly warm and winters are not as cold as you might expect,’ according to the Icelandic Tourist Board. Surely the simple explanation is that there was a monumental mix up by the people who name islands. (The notion they exchanged names to fool invaders is an urban myth.) Still, it isn’t unexpected to discover that climate and the country’s predominately rural living conditions and the intensity of the landscape play an important thematic role for its inhabitants, specifically for its artistic community. Iceland’s better known acts such as Björk, Sigur Rós and Múm convey a palpable sense of isolation, desperation for warmth amidst cold winter nights, and an ever-present instinct for survival. It makes for an intriguing combination of practicality and philosophy, and with We Built A Fire, Seabear makes a valiant case to join the aforementioned artists as one of the island’s preeminent musical postcards to the world. Sindri Már Sigfússon began Seabear as a solo project in 2000, though it has since morphed into a seven-member band. Seabear’s Singing Arc EP in 2005 and debut album The Ghost That Got Carried Away in 2007 proffered songs with titles like ‘We Like Winter Clothes’, ‘Seashell’, ‘Summer Bird Diamond’ and ‘Sailors Blue’. The lyrics were introspective and melancholy but with just enough bounce in the melody to keep the whole thing from collapsing under the weight of its own sensitivity. Standout selections like the sweet acoustic-driven ‘I Sing I Swim’ were able to evoke a sense of rain-soaked playfulness, in a manner similar to Belle and Sebastian singing about romance in Scotland. Even so, the cumulative effect remained largely ineffectual; the songs’ climatic moments tended to drift away once the music stopped....full text |
| Popmatters |
| Seabear has all the right stuff. The band comes from Iceland, a place that thus far has maintained a solid track record of crossover music acts (including Björk and Sigur Rós, in case you somehow forgot). Cute, fashionable, and playing a popular brand of intricately constructed, hush-hush, stateside-inspired folk-pop, Seabear seemingly can’t go wrong. Even longtime Rolling Stone rock critic emeritus David Fricke called lead singer Sindri Már Sigfússon the “Icelandic Beck”—which can’t hurt, even if it’s completely off the mark and undeserved. Originally the musical project of singer/songwriter Sigfússon, who employed a revolving cast of members to back him, the band has evolved into a permanent septet. For We Built a Fire, Sigfússon dished out portions of creative control and allowed all members of the band to have equal input in the writing process of the album. How communal of them. Igniting the kindling and taking their respective places around the proverbial campfire, the members of Seabear set the mood of their second full-length with the opening track, “Lion Face Boy”, a midtempo, string-filled pop number that builds into a gently enthusiastic chorus full of horns and easy melodies. The tempered, pastoral atmosphere continues on throughout the obligatory (for a folk-inspired record) piece with acoustic guitar and a weeping saw, “Fires Dies Down”, and the full-bodied “I’ll Build A Fire”, plump with rumbling drums, violins, and female vocal harmonies....full text |
Seabear lyrics
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