Arcade Fire – The Suburbs : Album Reviews

Those lovable Canadian orchestral indie-kids Arcade Fire are back with The Suburbs: a strong installment in their now three album career.

For the most part, The Suburbs hits the spot. You get what you expect, and you should be happy with that. But there is something lacking that gave me that energized sense of empowerment on their previous two albums.

The songs are great, and there’s some new and interesting influences permeating within that give it both immediate and sustained appeal. However, it might be a case of there being too much of a good thing, with the album coming in at 16 tracks long. Having said that however, it’s not really a case of doom and gloom, rather a few minor speed-bumps.

From the very onset with title track The Suburbs, it is very apparent that this album feels very familiar. There is a sense of immediacy with it that really makes it appealing from early on. Ready To Start substantiates the whole ‘dreary’ vibe of The Suburbs, and it’s at this point also that we realize something is different here.

These arrangements have a  lack of – forgive me for what I’m about to say – epicness! Rather than blasting us away with their distinct brand of sizable avant-garde musical grandeur, Arcade Fire have this time opted for a more subdued, but no less appealing entrance.

It would be accurate to say that it sounds a little scaled back. There’s a maturity that permeates The Suburbs that points towards a concerted effort to make an all-round classic similar to Lou Reed’s Berlin. The songs have a unique blood-of-America sound that celebrates the everyday, as well as the beauty that can be extracted from harsh reality.

Although the subject matter of endless suburbs and dreary landscapes can be quite depressing, The Suburbs paints a musical portrait that is equally as bright and refreshing.

Empty Room is a straight forward rock number, be that in the style of Arcade Fire, and really offers no respite with its consistent barrage of sound that has slightly built up at this point of the record. Contrast this intensity with that of City With No Children, which is proof of this stripped-down sound that they are incorporating.

Simple in sound and concept, it initially offers little. Yet it somehow manages to endear itself with its quaint sense of honesty. You get the sense this is where singer Win Butler is trying to mature his sound, and make it relevant to more than just their current audience.

Suburban War, with its bold, anthemic and triumpant rampage beautifully captures this cold suburban imagery, while Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) is a an odd, yet highly seductive song that recreates certain moments of Blondie’s Heart Of Glass.

If I was to use one word to describe The Suburbs, that word would be smart. Overall, it’s no less appealing than Funeral and Neon Bible, which were both outstanding records in their own right.

It’s a great direction for them to head in. Whilst exploring new instrumentation, they’re also exploring new sounds, which sometimes means holding back on their instinct to detail everything with a lavish classical swirl.

It’s a substantial accumlation of their sounds to date, with their new interpretations added in. Yet, I feel that this album is slightly inhibited by its sheer length, with the likes of Rococo and Month Of May not really adding anything worthwhile. It feels like a 12 track album stuck in the body of a 16 track monster.

Although The Suburbs sufficiently add to Arcade Fire’s decorated discography, as well as point them in a new and alluring direction, it can at times come across as a little self indulgent as a result of its unnecessary lengthiness.