Tag Archives: arcade fire

#1303: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

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‘The Suburbs’ is the first song on the album of the same name, Arcade Fire’s third LP, released back in the summer of 2010. The lead up to this album’s release is one that I missed completely, I have to say. During that time, I was getting into The Who and seeing what their discography was all about. It was by chance that I heard ‘Ready to Start’ in an advert for the TV show Skins a month or so after the album’s release, otherwise I would’ve stayed unaware that The Suburbs was a thing that was existing. So I got to downloading it. The title track started it off, and it was a strong, strong opener. It wasn’t the orchestral, spooky, mysterious epic of an introduction that ‘Black Mirror’ was on previous album Neon Bible. ‘The Suburbs’ had a shuffling tempo, a skip in its rhythmic step, with its opening piano part sounding quite upbeat. It was warm, it was inviting. I would have been a little late to the party, but there was something very refreshing with ‘The Suburbs’ being the first thing to hear on an album after three years of waiting for a new one.

Now, ‘The Suburbs’ as a song is one that probably a lot of people out there hold very dearly. I’m not going to say it doesn’t matter that much to me. I will say I don’t think I’ve had that experience where I thought, “Man, this song really hits home,” or something to that degree. Though, I’m sure that time will come soon enough. The track is frontman Win Butler’s recollection of growing up in the suburbs with his brother Will, learning how to drive and having those dreams of what they’d do when they were old enough to leave. And then it gets to a part where he asks a higher power to provide him with a daughter or a son, to show them some beauty before the world truly turns to shit. That tugs on the heartstrings a little. You can call me out for being superficial or whatever, but what I really appreciate about the track is Win Butler’s vocal. He just sings the track really well. And if the “Sometimes I can’t believe it / I’m moving past the feeling” melodic line doesn’t ingrain itself into the memory bank, then the song just probably isn’t for you. And that’s fine. But it is such a great melody, you’ll probably find yourself singing it spontaneously.

Well, according to my phone here, it looks as if this’ll be the last Arcade Fire song I ever talk/discuss/ramble about on this blog. May come as a surprise to some, maybe not so much to others. I’ve never been the biggest Arcade Fire fan. I’ve always followed them whenever there’s a new album around the corner, particularly during that nine-year span from Funeral (2004) to Reflektor (2013) when they were the big, big indie act that it felt like everyone was waiting in anticipation for when it came to the thought of new music. I think I even gave my thoughts on ‘Reflektor’, the song, when it was very, very new at one point. Though if I was a rabid supporter like you’d probably find somewhere out there, there’d be many more songs by them on this blog. It is what it is. But the Arcade Fire songs you can find on here are a bunch that I have a huge appreciation for. So click on that ‘arcade fire’ tag and have a look through, whenever you want.

#1097: Arcade Fire – Ready to Start

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Whoa, whoa, wow. I haven’t written about a song from this album since December 2013, when I covered ‘City with No Children’. One of those instances where I can’t say time’s flown, because I can’t remember writing that post at all. Didn’t write so much about the song on there from what I can see, but more about what it meant to me and all that melodramatic stuff. Well, I can try and change it up on this occasion. Also… I’m not the most massive fan of Arcade Fire all that much, so there’s not a lot of stuff of theirs on this site anyway. I’ll tell you now, there’s only one song left from The Suburbs I’ll be writing about in the future, and then that’s it for Arcade Fire on here. I’ll leave it to you to guess what that song is.

I’m thinking back to 2010, and I’m quite sure that ‘Ready to Start’ was the first song I heard from The Suburbs. It was a massive coincidence, however, because I wasn’t even aware that Arcade Fire was releasing a new album at the time, so I had no idea who this song was by, but I know it sounded good. I want to say that the song was playing in an advert for a TV show on E4 (that’s a channel over here in the UK), which was repeated almost every day and in the same time slot too. I also want to say that the TV show in question was Skins. A Google search by my 15-year-old self showed that this was indeed a new Arcade Fire song, and I downloaded The Suburbs not too long afterwards. Strange how these things work out.

I do like ‘Ready to Start’ a bunch, though. The finishing chord from the previous track on the album segue right into the ticking snare hits of the track’s introduction, which in turn transform into the driving rhythm that ultimately carry the song for the rest of its duration with a strike of those crash cymbals. ‘Ready to Start’ is a song about self-determination, forging your own path in life and finding the strength to do so amidst pressures from various outside forces. Contributors on Genius say it’s about the band’s indie credibility being questioned by their peers as they were signing onto a major label and shaking hands with those suit-wearing cigar smoking big wigs. I guess that could be right too. What I know is, the music sounds dramatic as anything. Almost hypnotizing during those choruses. And it comes to a climactic moment when it goes into half-time for the outro before returning to its regular tempo. Oh, and I was right, it was Skins that ‘Ready to Start’ was appearing in the trailer for. See? Look at it down there. Takes me right back, it does.

#901: Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

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With all that I said a couple days ago about ‘Neighborhood #2’, ‘Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)’ is a complete banger, for lack of a better word. Was the first Arcade Fire song I ever heard. Though it was with some hesitance. There was some time in 2005 when its video was playing almost every day on MTV2, and me being nine/ten at the time would usually change the channel whenever that first shot of the video came on the screen and the music started playing. I’d usually try and find other videos to watch instead. But a day came when I decided to see what ‘Power Out’ was all about and why it was taking so much airtime. I pretty much understood after that.

The animated music video shows a bunch of hooded youths cutting the power lines in a city, who are then chased by a group of smartly dressed men. One by one, the men are taken out by the youths culminating in the final man who dies quite brutally by electrocution. The movement of the characters and shot changes match the rhythm of the track, which made the experience of both watching and listening all the more thrilling. But overall, the music just sounded so dramatic and forceful. It begins with all the momentum of a freight train on the tracks and doesn’t really let up until its final chord. Win Butler’s vocals are off the wall. I’ve always liked his delivery in this one. I had no idea what he looked like because the band don’t appear in the video, but it sounded like someone who knew how to put their all into a vocal performance. Funeral had been out for months by that point, so I’m sure a lot of people figured out how good the band were already. But as the introduction to the band that it was for me, it did more than enough to show that the music required attention.

The track’s lyrics were inspired by an actual ice storm in Montreal that left the city out of power for weeks, and the verses depict these of people worrying, celebrating or not caring so much while in this situation. But it brings it down to this real human, emotional level with the “something wrong in the heart of man” sections. I couldn’t tell you what those sections are referring to, but they always make me feel a bit sad inside. Like a lot of songs that I was introduced to around that age, I’ve never gone out of the way to look too deep into the meaning of it. It’s been one of those songs that’s just always been there and existing. I’m very sure though that the core meaning of this track comes in those sections, where it’s all meant to come together. It’s beautiful stuff.

#900: Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laïka)

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As a casual Arcade Fire fan and something of a follower of reception to indie albums, I think I’ve picked up the general feelings about the four “Neighborhood” songs that are on the group’s Funeral album. A record that I think I read changed the shape of indie upon its arrival in 2004. ‘#4 (7 Kettles)‘ is the one no one talks about that much. Many people may like it, but it’s not seen as the best. ‘#1 (Tunnels)‘ and ‘#3 (Power Out)‘ are the classics, with the former generally regarded as the better of the two. So that leaves ‘#2 (Laïka)’ as something of the middle child. The dark horse. It’s appreciated, but probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves. In my case, it’s my personal favourite out of all four.

The track tells a story of Alexander, the oldest brother in a family who leaves home, goes out into the world and purposefully erases his memories of his loved ones who still wish him the best out of that unconditional love that comes with being a family. From the perspective of the younger sibling who acts as the narrative voice compares their brother’s disappearance to that of Laika, the dog that was sent into space by the Russians and died while own its own great adventure. It carries on the themes of family and the idea of ‘the neighborhood’ introduced in ‘Tunnels’, but takes a darker turn from that by touching upon abandonment too.

There are just a lot of musical moments that happen here that draw me to it more compared to the other three ‘Neighborhoods’. Coming straight after ‘Tunnels’ which ends on a beautiful, somewhat strident note, ‘Laïka’ sets the tone with an omninous tom-tom driven drum pattern that’s then joined by jangly guitars, I want to say a xylophone (it’s one of those percussive instruments), and that short melody on the accordion that’s pretty much the anchor of the whole song. A double-tracked Win Butler sounds like he’s singing through a megaphone, like he’s some big announcer telling this story to us. The violins in the choruses add this tense urgency and add to the chaos when the vocals become more intense in the “Older brother, bit by a vampire” verse and culminate in a yelling delivery from Régine Chassagne. Overall, it’s one of those tracks where you can pick out new things each time you listen to it. Like those whistles during the ‘police disco lights’ section. What are those all about? Didn’t need to be there, yet I can’t imagine the song without ’em. A non-‘Neighborhood’ track follows this one on the album, and probably for good reason. Those first two really take it out of you.

My iPod #190: Arcade Fire – City with No Children

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“City with No Children” came at a point in my life where I had no idea what my future held in store for me. I’ll tell you more, I just have to state the basic information first.

Ahem… The song is on Arcade Fire’s third album “The Suburbs” from 2010, and was released as a single too.

So as I was saying earlier, “City” came at a time when I was… quite depressed actually. I hadn’t done so well in my AS levels but did well enough to get back into the second year of sixth form. Every day I went into school wanting to be somewhere else. It was not fun anymore. My friends were the only thing that made the sixth and three quarter hours bearable. I was always thinking towards the future because of uni and everything else. Times were bad.

I’d known the song was on “The Suburbs” and I downloaded the album right when it came out three years ago, but it was in September last year when I decided to listen to the album the whole way through again. The track was the one that caught me on that second listen, just because it was so calming and relaxing. It took me away from everything, you know? You know.

To a lesser extent, the song felt great as the seasons changed from autumn to winter. It seemed to fit the atmosphere perfectly.