Reviewed by Michael Dalton

"And that dismal cry rose slowly and sank slowly through the air full of spirits melancholy and eternity's despair and they heard the words it said; Pan is dead - Great Pan is dead."

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Browning's words can be found inside the gatefold cover of Fordlandia, the towering new project written, produced and arranged by Icelandic native Johann Johannsson. But before you open it, look at that cover: it's dark yet defined with graphics of a non-descript synchronized mechanism. Layered over the top are Roman columns yet the columns stop halfway across the image. Turn the cover over and you'll notice the design starts to lose its uniform construction. It's not indicative of the flawless aural concoction inside…it's a visual reminder of the disaster that was Fordlandia, Henry Ford's plantation that was created to farm rubber but failed due to appalling working conditions and technical misjudgement.

This is Johannsson's second instalment of a trilogy - the first being IBM 1401 A User's Manual released in 2006 - which used America's brand names as some kind of sonic buoy. A cinematic seduction with strings, a choral group, thundering beats and crescendo-like swells are the keys to the kingdom. Recorded in Prague, Copenhagen and Tokyo, the listener can sense influences of Michael Nyman, Craig Armstrong, and even Ennio Moriccone. The 11-track opus swims from the teasingly slow building title track, powered by a 60-piece orchestra, to towering euphoric anthems - Melodia (Guidelines for a Space Propulsion Device) is fuelled by an insistent bass. Sprinkled throughout are the Melodia movements (I through IV) that work to move the action forward. The Great God Pan Is Dead delivers an uplifting choral release yet it's all part of a journey that leads to the grand climax: How We Left Fordlandia. In the string laden finale, meant to underscore the disgruntled workers taking their leave, there's relief and Johannsson swings his string section across the top in triumph. Such is the widescreen effect, you can imagine the credits rolling over their streaked faces.

The music coming out of Iceland has such a distinctive feel. Listen to Sigur Ros, Mum, Bjork, and even GusGus. It's panoramic and ambitious but there's a cleansing quality to their remarkable productions. Johannsson's simplistic style may have taken a cue from their approach to composition. While his previous effort maintained simplicity, with six simple movements and a squared-off sensibility in its composition, his latest offering sprawls. It's as if Johannsson decided to expand his soundscape into an octagon. There are certainly enough sides here to support the theory.

Johann Johannsson - Fordlandia (2008)

Available through Remote Control