Arcade Fire — WE
Since the end of the world is near, let’s dance until it stops.
Starting any artistic review lately stating that the pandemic profoundly impacted humans and society has become incredibly banal. However, listening to the newest Arcade Fire record forces us to acknowledge that they, too, were affected by this event no one expected.
We have all had to face how fragile we are, we have all been crippled by fear, anxiety, despair and boredom. When is it going to end? How? What became of all those people directly impacted by the forced stop the world came to? What if it was us? And in the meantime, what do we do?
The pandemic has not only humbled many of us but also brought to light that life is incredibly fragile and that it is critical to fiercely protect it.
Win Butler and Régine Chassagne were no exception to that and want us to know. In their own way. The way we passionately loved Funeral or Neon Bible.
Looking at the album cover is enough to understand — an eye iris, supposedly representing a massive black hole (according to Win Butler’s own words), called Sagittarius, surrounded by vibrant colors — if the end of the world and civilization are near, we might as well dance and shower ourselves in glitter.
Fear, over abundance, anxiety, doubt and despair perspire throughout the whole new Arcade Fire. The record opens on ‘Age of Anxiety I’ in which Win Butler self-implores to get rid of this chronic anxiety that cripples him — ‘So we keep it all inside and hide it deep in the drawer’, ‘gotta get this spirit out of me, this anxiety, this anxiety that’s inside of me, baby.’
One might then expect a very dark album, musically speaking, but Arcade Fire have always had an amazing ability to perfectly balance light and darkness. They chose and tell us to exorcize despair in the most joyous way (Rabbit Hole).
And it is probably one of the most beautiful aspect of Arcade Fire to witness: this sadness full of glitter, this very honest, but never deadly, vulnerability.
Talking about vulnerability. Arcade Fire had stepped away from it with their previous album, ‘Everything Now’, which was less convincing, pompous, not very genuine and looked more like a stylish exercise than their previous records — Funeral, Neon Bible, The Suburbs. The band had managed to annoy their fanbase with questionable choices around their concerts. We had lost Arcade Fire and what made them so unique. They were trying a little too hard.
It seems like the pandemic also had this effect — to put us back into our place, to place vulnerability and humanity at the center of who we are: fragile, terrified and anxious, in a world that’s chocking. This album is like reconnecting with a loved one after a big argument: we are naked and sorry. We’d love for things to go back the way they were; we feel stupid.
The track ‘End of Empire I-III’ is not only filled with this idea, through the lyrics ‘Didn’t used to get high, with you by my side’ ‘standing at the end of the American empire’ ‘didn’t used to think i could ever dream about losing you’, but also through the musical arrangements, more minimalists than what we were used to.
Arcade Fire was fireworks and extravagance, sometimes too much.
Of course, the energy of Arcade Fire is still very present, along with this beautiful talent they have for alternating darkness and light, sadness and joy — another guiding element of WE. ‘The lightning I’ carries an unseen momentum in the album ‘don’t quite on me, baby, we are waiting on the lightning’. The light shows up at the end of this immensely dark tunnel.
The record closes magnificently on the track ‘WE’, in which the listener can hear whatever they wish.
We, referring to humans, bathed in fear, doubt and anxiety. In that case, WE would serve as help to make it through tough times — whatever they are. Think of it as a musical clutch.
Or maybe this ‘WE’ would be a declaration to Régine, Win’s wife, who has been sharing his life and inspirations for decades now.
It is indeed easy to imagine Win would be darkness and Régine would offer the light. This magnificent Régine who dances life away in her glittery outfits, full of smiles.
In any case, Arcade Fire stepping away from the desire to ‘perform’ and returning to openness is a true miracle. ‘WE’ is an honest, sincere and transparent record in which Régine and Win take us by the hand and guide us to their universe, where, even if the end is near, dancing is the only way to exorcize pain and fear.
