Finally, thank God, it’s here! After a year and a half of touring and a year of songwriting and recording sessions, The Arcade Fire (Feu de l’Arcade, for all you Quebecois) has released a follow-up album to their groundbreaking debut album “Funeral.”
For those of you who have not heard, The Arcade Fire is “Canada’s most intriguing rock band,” according to Time magazine. Intriguing, indeed.
The Arcade Fire was formed in Montreal by the husband and wife duo Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. The band has seven members, but that can change from performance to performance.
Their debut album “Funeral” shook many circles of the music world. Yet, their notoriety might be more easily attributed to their energetic and overwhelming live shows. In concert, members of the Arcade Fire thrash around in a violently joyous fashion, while drums thunder and a man with a helmet beats various percussion instruments with the obvious intent to ruin whatever drum or cymbal he might have in his bruised hand. In short, on the stage, no one compares.
Recorded mostly in a church in Montreal and complete with a thundering pipe organ, a children’s choir and an orchestra from Budapest, “Neon Bible” has all the elements that can lead to either a work of musical genius or a blundering, pretentious flop. The use of a wide array of instruments normally signals either a lack of focus caused by musical boredom or a grandiose vision that requires the use of a string quartet. Fortunately, “Neon Bible” does have a clear focus and, better yet, the album doesn’t stray too far from it.
Despite the wide range of instrumentation, the sound is never indulgent. The album is well crafted; the pipe organ and the orchestra never seem out of place. “Neon Bible,” The Arcade Fire’s sophomore effort, satisfies the immense amount of fan and critic anticipation.
Lyrically, “Neon Bible” is definitely post-9/11 inspired. In “Black Mirror” Butler sings “mirror, mirror on the wall/ show me where the bombs will fall” in a deep and ominous voice, an indictment upon modernity and a world driven by a bleak military-industrial complex. Butler conjures images of the crashing twin towers in “(Antichrist Television Blues)” as he sings in a Springsteen-esque voice “I don’t know what I’m gonna do/ ‘Cause the planes keep crashing always two by two/ Don’t wanna work in a building downtown.”
The scope of Butler’s lyrical focus has expanded. In the debut album the lyrics focus primarily on personal relations and the troubles of youth. However, in the “Neon Bible,” the songs focus on concerns and problems within modern society. In “Windowsill,” for example, Butler sings “I don’t wanna fight in a holy war/ I don’t want the salesman knocking at my door/ I don’t wanna live in America no more.”
Although the lyrics express dissatisfaction and a bleak vision of society, the music is surprisingly hopeful. Strings lilt softly over the bouncing melody of a mandolin in “Keep the Car Running,” despite the fear panicked lyrics.
In “No Cars Go,” an Interpol-like intro subsides to the melodic strings, accordion and brass section that sway richly over the driving bass and steady drum beat while Butler and Chassagne sing of running away completely from the mechanized madness of modern society.
Some complain, however, about the sound production, which some described as “muddled” or “cramped.” Nitpicky. How many professional complaints have you heard about the scratchiness of Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters recordings? When did sound quality become more important than the actual music?
Overall, “Neon Bible” is a masterful work from an already interesting band. The lyrics are earnest and emotional, while the sound is innovative, powerful and cleverly arranged. A pipe organ has never been put to better use by a rock group. This album will certainly be one of the highlights of this year, if not the entire decade. Currently, “Neon Bible” has a weight on album charts that is reminiscent of Radiohead’s “OK Computer.” And, even though it might be a bit blasphemous to say, this album may be just as important.
