Sigur Rós, whose new album Valtari is issued on 28 May, have announced the departure of core member Kjartan Sveinsson (keyboards/piano), who had been with the band since 1998. This also comes before the start of their world tour, which commences on 29 July.

The remaining members of the band - Jón (Jonsi) Þór Birgisson (vocals, guitar), Georg Holm (bass) and Orri Páll Dýrason (drums) - will be joined on the dates by multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Björn Ólafsson, as Sveinsson’s replacement. Also seen live will be Benni Hemm Hemm on keyboards and oboe, and Hólm's brother Kjartan Dagur Holm on guitar.

Jonsi told the Reykjavik Grapevine that Sveinsson “wants to spend his time doing something else”. He continued, saying that time on the road is “not necessarily the most productive” way of life for Sveinsson at this time.

Valtari mostly comprises re-recordings of offcuts or shelved tracks, which theartsdesk’s review commented on.

In the period between their last album, 2009’s Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, and beginning work on Valtari, Sveinsson worked on an as-yet unreleased, classically-inclined work titled Credo.

In the same Reykjavik Grapevine article Jonsi said the band are not splitting up, and also batted away speculation that another album had already been completed and readied for release after Valtari.