Sigur Ros singer Jonsi has won the first ever Nordic Music Prize for his solo album Go. The awards ceremony took place on Saturday with Jonsi Birgisson, as he’s also known, accepting with characteristic brevity, saying, “Thank you so much, thank you to all the other musicians.”
Jonsi beat off pretty stiff competition to take the prize, including The Radio Dept‘s Clinging To A Scheme, Robyn‘s Bodytalk, Dungen‘s Skit, First Aid Kit‘s The Big Black & The Blue and Serena Maneesh‘s downright excellent album Abyss in B Minor.
The Nordic Music Prize takes its cue from established awards in other countries including the Mercury Prize in the UK and Canada’s Polaris Prize.
The Jury said of Jonsi’s Go, “The music of the winner could only have been made here, in the North. It sounds and almost smells like Iceland. It’s brave and life affirming pop music that grabs you by the heart in flamboyant technicolour.”
Jonsi reportedly tried to celebrate his win with a swift smooch with the Crown Prince of Norway.
