This week, a long time favorite band of mine, Arcade Fire, just released Everything Now and as always it’s a deeply introspective album of music that spans every genre. From the beginning of their career, their sound was a very granola, indie rock feel, however, as they progressed album after album their sound got more mature, more progressive and they’ve developed a sound that grows on you gradually until it, for me, has become one of my favorite records.
Song wise, the title track Everything Now tackles the instant gratification of our society accompanied by their take on a neo-disco sound that is reminiscent of the 1970s. The line “Every song that I’ve ever heard /Is playing at the same time, it’s absurd” says to me that the advancement of technology along with the sheer speed that we can stream any album ever written, while convenient, doesn’t necessarily make you enjoy a record more. To the contrary, I believe what the song conveys is its disposable quality of modern music as well as other forms of art in totality. They take a very interesting risk that pays off with twin tracks Infinite Content and Infinite_Content. The first track has a punk rock like tendencies and the latter is the same exact song but in a country style that they can only pull off. My personal favorite is Creature Comfort simply for the progressive song structure that is amazing to set to driving or working out. Probably my favorite lyric on the whole album is “Saying God, make me famous If you can’t just make it painless” which to me points out the fact that you’re either working towards something amazing or you’re just sleepwalking through life hoping nothing goes wrong.
From a design perspective, Arcade Fire ALWAYS puts up a really interesting website that commands the user to interact with it in thoughtful ways. This site follows the concept of Infinite Content and has a faux operating system concept that really gets you moving windows around and clicking around. The packaging for the album also has really strong photography with vibrant colors and iconography that visually communicates the album’s themes. Even the music video for the title track stays on brand and explores the landscape briefly viewed on the album cover, deepening the connection between the songs meaning and the visual experience that is strongly represented with this band.
All in all, Everything Now is a continuation of Arcade Fire’s impressive collection of music. I highly recommend that you check it out and if you’re as stoked on it as I am you can purchase the record, cd or even cassette tape (they’re making a comeback if you didn’t know) by checking out their online store or your local independant record store. They’re also going on tour so check everythingnow.com for when they’ll be by you and I hope you enjoy Everything Now as much as I do.
-Aa
