"Rafstraumur" ( Icelandic for "Electric Current") is a song written by

Jón Þór Birgisson Jón is an Old Norse common name still widely used in Iceland and the Faroes. According to Icelandic custom, people named Jón are generally referred to by first and middle names and those without a middle name are referred to with both first nam ...

, Orri Páll Dýrason,

Georg Hólm Georg "Goggi" Hólm (; born 6 April 1976) is the bassist of the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. He is the most prominent member of Sigur Rós in the English press, as he does significantly more press than the other members due to him being th ...

of Icelandic

post rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings with electronics a ...

band

Sigur Rós Sigur Rós () is an Icelandic post-rock band that formed in 1994 in Reykjavík. It comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Jónsi, Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, bassist Georg Hólm, and keyboardist Kjartan Sveinsson. Known for their ethereal soun ...

. The song was originally recorded throughout 2012 and 2013 at the Sundlaugin Studio in

Mosfellsbær Mosfellsbær (, colloquially Mosó) is a town in south-west Iceland, east of the country's capital, Reykjavík. The coat of arms of the municipality is a tightly-knotted triquetra, a symbol often used in Celtic knotwork and strongly associated ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

for inclusion on the band's seventh studio album, ''

Kveikur ''Kveikur'' (pronounced , ''fuse'' or ''candlewick'') is the seventh studio album from Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. It was released 12 June 2013 in Japan, on 17 June internationally, and on 18 June in the United States through XL Recording ...

''. The record appears as the seventh track on the album. The record was released to radio on November 18, 2013 as a

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

for ''Kveikur''. Sigur Rós' recording of "Rafstraumur" was remixed by Canadian electronic musician Cyril Hahn, and was released as a single on October 21, 2013. A music video to promote the single was also produced and created.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from ''Kveikur'' liner notes. ;Sigur Rós *

– vocals, guitar *

– bass * Orri Páll Dýrason – drums ;Additional musicians *Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson –

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

arrangement *Daníel Bjarnason –

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangement *Sigrún Jónsdóttir – brass *Eiríkur Orri Ólafsson – brass *Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir – brass *Borgar Magnason – strings *Margrét Árnadóttir – strings *Pálína Árnadóttir – strings *Una Sveinbjarnardóttir – strings *Þórunn Ósk Marinósdóttir – strings ;Additional personnel *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering *Rich Costey – mixing *Alex Somers – mixing,

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

*Elisabeth Carlsson – assistant mixing *Eric Isip – assistant mixing *Chris Kasych – assistant mixing *Laura Sisk – assistant mixing *Birgir Jón Birgisson – recording *Valgeir Sigurdsson – recording (strings)

Release history

Commercial

Promotional

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafstraumur Sigur Rós songs 2013 singles 2013 songs XL Recordings singles Songs written by Jónsi Songs written by Orri Páll Dýrason Songs written by Georg Hólm Songs in Icelandic