Album of the Week: Arcade Fire, 'Everything Now'
by David Safar
July 31, 2017
Arcade Fire started their career as the band from Montreal that would become an unlikely success story. The emotionally tender songs from Funeral resonated with fans tired of the homogenized indie rock of the early 2000s. In hindsight, their rise to success was both a reaction to the music of the times and a testament to the power of new media like music blogs and message boards. That might be why they their rise to fame has deepened the resolve of their fan base rather than creating a backlash. The success of the band validates the taste of their fans who were with them from the beginning. Arcade Fire continue to represent the underdog despite their departure from their independent label, Merge Records, and move to a major label for their fifth studio album.
For a band who are hyperconscious of their image and place in the music industry, their official major label debut is possibly their most accessible album yet. Co-produced by members of Daft Punk and Portishead, Everything Now is Arcade Fire's best work of their career. It has the danceable moments of Reflektor while maintaining the art-rock sensibility of Neon Bible and The Suburbs. They succeed at crafting rock songs that translate to your headphones and their stadium shows.
While the title track has a singular repetitive message, songs like "Creature Comfort" are lyrically dense as Regine Chassagne, the emotional heart of the band, sings about a person dealing with depression brought on by a complex set of societal factors. It's a modern-day version of The Rolling Stones' "Mother's Little Helper," as the creature comfort in the song has a dual meaning that touches on the loss of a friend and the use of medication to deal with unbearable loneliness. This interplay between the emotion and music is what makes Everything Now a great album.
Arcade Fire's Everything Now is out now on Columbia Records.
Resources
Arcade Fire - Official Site