Can I get an amen? Everyone wants to know if Arcade Fire can three-peat and retain and extend their unique sound. The short answer is yes, Neon Bible is just as fin de siecle as Funeral and their self-titled debut. The long answer is that Neon Bible is a spiritual, boisterous gem.
Intervention, the first single and album master track is an epic driven by a Bach-quality organ dirge. Ocean of Noise is a surprisingly traditional love song with a beguiling bass track. Keep The Car Running and Antichrist Television Blues are breathless standouts - fiddlefull of hustle and rhythm and protest. Black Mirror is an ominous rumble of a song. The usual circus of instruments (Hurdy Gurdy anyone?) and multi-instrumentalist flamboyance give this album that familiar Arcade Fire sonic timbre. It's everything you may have loved about previous Arcade Fire revelations - naked emotion, decadent nostalgia, military percussion, a touch of gothic lushness, and above all free-spirited passion.
The Deluxe CD version (how quaint), comes with 2 flipbooks - an animated neon bible logo and a foggy grayscale loop of swimmers flailing for direction in black water, while the vinyl LP version is accompanied by a download coupon for an MP3 version. Singer Win Butler has found his muse, wife and dramatic foil in RĂ©gine Chassagne. He's from Texas, she's from Haiti, jubilant musical chaos ensues in church halls across Quebec. And we're all the richer.
Comments