No, I don’t mean the place surrounding every city, I mean the new, totally awesome album released two weeks ago by Arcade Fire. This album seems to have been met with mixed review, but I for one, have nothing but great things to say about this piece of work. I defended their last album three years ago, and (not-surprisingly) I’m happy to do it again!
Why I Love "The Suburbs"
1. Building Upon Funeral and Neon Bible — The themes of nostalgia, wasted time, and emptiness are not presented in a worried, tragic manner. Rather, the album slowly come to accept the inevitability of it all. Funeral is full of joy, Neon Bible is full of sorrow, but The Suburbs is full of gradual acceptance. In the first album they sing like they are so optimistic about changing the world, in the second they sing like it is too much to be changed by one person, before now coming to accept that maybe that’s not so bad after all.
Several images from this album call back to their earlier works. Obvious ones include the references to police lights (Laika), having a daughter (Antichrist Television Blues), turning off the lights (Power Out/Une Annee Sans Lumiere) and possibly being alone (No Cars Go/The Well and The Lighthouse) or going for a drive (Keep The Car Running). Sure I may be reaching there, but I have a feeling that Win and crew planned at least a little bit.
Funeral to me always seemed like a pleasant dream, while Neon Bible sounded like a nightmare. Now here we are waking up to the steady, dull, angry, but comforting reality.
2. The Rebirth of Regine — With the exception of 1:35 at the start of “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” Regine really took a backseat on Neon Bible. Her pixiesque voice did not seem to fit well toward the brooding themes of the album, so Win Butler took a very commanding role on the album. As a fan of the songs “Haiti” and “Un Annee Sans Lumiere” from Funeral I was slightly disappointed by that.
Yet here on this album she takes the lead once more with “Empty Room” and “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”, as well as a larger supporting role throughout the album. This was a great showcase of her talents which have not been on display for some time.
Speaking of the albums penultimate track…
3. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) – Seriously this song is unbelievable. It is very 80s synth, something I did not expect to see out of this band at all. It was a great way to start to close the album and is worth a listen to absolutely anyone.
4. Inevitability — While The Suburbs theme of well…the suburbs seems to be very underwhelming at first which turned a few people off. But that is the point. This is an album about the inevitability to go back where you came from and growing to accept it.
The characters in the songs grow up, and eventually come back to their hometown sprawl. At first they are scared and alienated, but eventually they grow to accept that maybe it’s not so bad to end up back where you began.
5. The Suburbs, the Song – This album begins and ends with the title track. At the beginning it is presented as a dark place. However in the end, it is a slow calm number. This beautiful symmetry adds to the several themes that I’ve already mentioned and I’m certain wasn’t an accident.
6. Right Place, Right Time — I don’t know how they do it, but they did it yet again. It seems like whenever I need something from this band, they deliver. I feel like these songs just connect with me in a deep and personal level. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve spent the last two years living in the mega-sprawl of China, or because I’ve had troubles reconnecting with my hometown after being away from it for so long.
Trust me, this album sounds perfect on a bus through a crowded, busy city. Just as Neon Bible was perfect alone in a basement, and Funeral was made to play loudly in your first apartment.
Hopefully it sounds perfect to you, no matter how or where you are.
Until next time,
G
Tags: arcade fire, music
