Arcade Fire - Mirror Noir: Neon Bible Archives 2006-2007

Dark Canadian second album visual smorgasbord

Arcade Fire’s second album, Neon Bible, seemed to come from a place – literally and emotionally – that few would ever be able to visit. Recorded in a church deep in the countryside, it still sounds fantastic; full of choirs, organs, chants and the all-round introspective Springsteen whimsy you suspect comes solely from singer Win Butler in this troupe.

Cut from reams of live and backstage footage, director Vincent Morisset walks a fine line between revealing all about the band and telling us nothing. At times this is massively frustrating. Cutting out of a song mid-way through a live performance is nothing new, but taking the viewer directly to rain droplets on a bus windscreen is never going to be satisfactory. There’s also something incredibly depressing about the behind-the- scenes footage (in which the band seem too choreographed, often joyless, and surly), so it’s a good thing that the live audiences we repeatedly see (and hear) are so animated.

Better are seemingly off-thecuff performances of the likes of Neon Bible (seven in a lift!) and Windowsill (Win and Regine zipping up and down a lift). Arcade Fire are increasingly cryptic, so perhaps all this DVD ever needed to do was spell it out for us: the music tells you all you need to know.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

| tbc

Reviewed by Jake Kennedy
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