Traveling around Iceland’s Route 1, the Ring Road, is one of the most gorgeous and mind-blowing road trips a person can take. The 827-mile stretch of asphalt loops around the Nordic island, through the lava desserts and barren countryside, with glaciers in the distance and chilling, isolated beauty at every turn. It’s impossible to not let the ambient sounds of Sigur Rós seep slowly in your head as you’re canvassing the country in this manner (this writer has done it, partially, twice), but today the Icelandic post-rock band is leading their own journey, and everyone around the world is invited.
Today, Sigur Rós are driving around Route 1, live streaming their travels and broadcasting “a constantly evolving soundtrack” based around elements of a new song called “Óveður.” The song is relayed via Bronze, an app described as generative music software. The event is being shown on live TV in Iceland, and via YouTube to an audience around the globe.
“In a day and age of instant gratification and everything moving so fast, we wanted to do the exact opposite,” says Sigur Rós’s Jónsi Birgisson in the YouTube description. “Slow TV is counter-active to the world we live in, in that it happens in real time and real slow.”
Sigur Rós will travel the road counter-clockwise, and will pass landmarks like ice sheet Vatnajökull, glacial lagoon Jökulsárlón, the east fjords and the black sands of Möðrudalur.
Follow along via #sigurrosrouteone