The new Arcade Fire album, or what I’ve heard of it so far, is everything one expects an Arcade Fire album to be: vast, compelling, dramatic, delicate, poetic, anti-intuitive. I’ll be listening to it a lot more. The way the rhythm of ‘Modern Man’ seems to keep cutting back on back on itself — almost tripping over, faltering — is fascinating. ‘Half Light II (No Celebration)’ has the verve you’d expect from the makers of Funeral and Neon Bible. At ‘Month of May’ things become punkier, more frenetic, and it’s a shift in gears which jalts in the right way. It is in no way disappointing, thus far, but it definitely needs more time. And it needs to be seen in the context of the other two albums. Which reminds me of a track by track comparison I did, a couple of years ago, of Funeral and Neon Bible:
Arcade Fire: Old vs New
‘Neighborhood #1′ vs ‘Black Mirror — I think this one has to go to Funeral, as no matter how intriguing ‘Black Mirror’ is at times, ‘Neighborhood #1′ will always win over, for me, as it has so many mental associations, particularly from around the time I was staying in Moscow. But, the more I listen to Neon Bible (and I’m listening to ‘Black Mirror’ right now, in fact), the more I feel that the new album is a very interesting progression. But this one, for now, is going to go to Funeral.
‘Neighborhood #2′ vs ‘Keep The Car Running’ — This one is a bit trickier, as I like both the tracks, but don’t really love either. I guess I’m going to go with ‘Funeral’ again, because it seems a little less cluttered: ‘Keep the Car Running’ seems, at moments, to lack clarity. However, I might change my mind later.
‘Une Année Sans Lumiere’ vs ‘Neon Bible’ — I think the newer of the two tracks is the clear winner, here. Yes, the lyrics in the older track are great (“…eyes are shooting sparks…”), but ‘Neon Bible’ is excellent both lyrically and musically (the segment from around 1:15 to 1:36 is lovely), so the winner by a mile seems here to be Neon Bible. But, wait, two minutes and forty-six seconds into ‘Une Année Sans Lumiere’, something amazing happens. And it keeps on happening for almost a minute. So, I’m not sure. But I’ll be firm: this time, Neon Bible wins. Close, though — very close.
‘Neighborhood #3′ vs ‘Intervention’ — Much as I love the older of the two, not least because of that storming opening, I think ‘Intervention’ was the first track on the new album that made me sit up and really listen. I’m practically listening to it on repeat right now, and the layering is magnificent. So, yes — the winner here is definitely Neon Bible.
‘Neighborhood #4′ vs ‘Black Wave, Bad Vibrations’ — I don’t actually like the old track, the fourth Neighborhood, all that much. But I really like the vocals and the arrangements in ‘Black Wave, Bad Vibrations’. It is funny: taking them one by one, Neon Bible is doing pretty well. But having said that, I think Funeral is hanging together better as an album, for me, right now.
‘Crown of Love’ vs ‘Ocean of Noise’ — Well, ‘Crown of Love’ is a masterpiece, and I need to keep reminding myself of that, as I sometimes forget. But ‘Ocean of Noise’ is cool, too. Here, though, Funeral gets it, even though “an ocean of violence, between me and you” is a fantastic lyric.
‘Wake Up’ vs ‘The Well and the Lighthouse’ — I don’t actually like ‘Wake Up’ all that much, and ‘The Well and the Lighthouse’ has a spectacular opening, so this is an easy one: Neon Bible gets the prize.
‘Haiti’ vs ‘(Antichrist Television Blues) — ‘Haiti’ has this slightly dreamy, upbeat quality, which I really like; but the newer of the two tracks as a punchiness and passion, particularly in the lyrics, that really works for me. Another, then, to the newer of the two albums.
‘Rebellion’ vs ‘Windowsill’ — O, this one is tricky. ‘Rebellion’ is epic and very powerful, but I may actually have tired listening to it now, after over a year with the album in my life. But ‘Windowsill’ (if that is the correct title) needs to be with me a little longer before I can really be sure it is better than ‘Rebellion’. Actually, the segment from 2:02 to around 3:30 may just have swayed me, as something about that portion really does walk all over the now over-familiar ‘Rebellion’. But if you take 3:00 to on ‘Rebellion’, you get something very, very special, too. Particularly that little hand-clap at around 3:20. Problem, right now, is that the track feels too long. No, okay, if I allow for the fact that I’ve listened to it too much, I have to give it to ‘Rebellion’, right now.
‘In the Backseat’ vs ‘No Cars Go’ — I have to be in exactly the right mood to enjoy ‘In the Backseat’, which is a bit of a problem, right now, as I don’t think I’m in the right mood. ‘No Cars Go’ is wonderful. So, Neon Bible, again.
The last track on Neon Bible, ‘My Body Is a Cage’, really doesn’t work for me, though, so it is lucky it doesn’t have to go against anything on ‘Funeral’, as it would almost certainly lose. And it is an awful reprise of those organs from the wondrous ‘Intervention’.
As a side note, the cover of ‘Maps’ performed by The Arcade Fire on Radio 1’s Live Lounge might just beat everything on both of those albums. And the same is probably also true for the live version (also from Live Lounge) of ‘Rebellion’ — simply extraordinarily beautiful, particularly that piano playing.
I’m not sure who wins overall.
I’d completely forgotten about their cover of ‘Maps’. Need to dig that out. And digging out anything by Arcade Fire is always worthwhile.