Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Montreal band’s third lingers in the outskirts

Arcade Fire may not sell in the millions, but the fervour surrounding the release of this third album is huge. Just how much the band’s hyped success affected the making of it is hard to know. By recording a 16-track concept album inspired by frontman Win Butler’s memories of the suburbs where he grew up, they’ve certainly followed their own artistic vision, but they’ve also wilfully indulged in the expansive orchestral arrangements that defined their breakthrough second record, Neon Bible, which propelled them into the mainstream.

The spritely opening title track is terrific, as is the sad, anthemic beauty of Ready To Start and the brash punk of Month Of May, while, during the wonderful, sparse, haunting Sprawl I, you find yourself wandering streets of Butler’s past in awe. But, on the whole, the introspective, personal nature of the subject matter jars with the overblown arrangements that carry them. Rococo soon becomes repetitive and tedious, while the bizarrely Abba-esque kitsch of Empty Room and Sprawl II are quite horrible. There are some magical moments here, but it’s an overly long and unnecessarily elaborate album that falls short of the band’s own high standards.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Sonovox | tbc

Reviewed by Mischa Pearlman
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