The tiny nation already had a homegrown rock scene that predated famous exports The Sugarcubes and Bjork. We were mostly in the rehearsal room writing songs and forgetting songs. We didn't have a clue what we were doing. Even Sigur Ros' vocals and lyrics defy easy description. But our newer songs don't have any actual lyrics.
People can get a lot of emotion from the vocals, so it does become a language in a way.
We just did a show in Milan where we were kind of freaked out because in the middle of a song somebody would scream something out. We found out later they were screaming 'Grande,' which means, you know, 'Great' or whatever. It was kind of a misunderstanding. Such praise is well-deserved. It didn't take off at all when I first got it in.