You know those lulling, ambient interludes that come between earth-cracking crescendos on every Sigur Rós album? Imagine an entire record made up of such calming moments and you have a good idea of what the upcoming record from Sigur Rós front man Jon Thor "Jónsi" Birgisson and his boyfriend Alex Somers sounds like. The largely instrumental record, dubbed Riceboy Sleeps, is out July 20 in Europe via Parlophone (U.S. release details are yet to come). It will be available in standard form, double vinyl, and as a tricked-out boxed set packaged with a bonus EP.

We recently chatted with Jónsi (who was drinking raw cocoa in his Reykjavík apartment) and Somers (who was taking a break from mastering the Riceboy album in London) about the LP and how it...