Music Review: Arcade Fire, “Everything Now”

Music Review: Arcade Fire, “Everything Now”

Share

Critically acclaimed, French-Canadian indie-rock band, Arcade Fire, has released their fifth studio album, “Everything Now.” Since their debut back in 2004 with “Funeral,” Arcade Fire has taken the industry by storm, winning basically every music award imaginable and catapulting indie sounds into the mainstream conscious. With each new album’s release, Arcade Fire’s popularity, influence, and talent grows. But with this latest venture, the band nose dives from the pedestal they were put on. “Everything Now” lacks the lyrical, emotional, and auditory depth Arcade Fire is known for – what made them lovable underdogs, misfits, and self-proclaimed “weirdos” in the first place. The band’s ability to create a remarkably stunning and cohesive album is practically thrown out here (or perhaps gets weighed down entirely by the pressure to produce another Arcade Fire masterpiece.) Either way, the album’s overall sound delivers as “The World’s Lamest Disco,” from the title track’s ABBA-inspired cords (sadly the best track on the album), to the disjointed, painfully clichéd “Peter Pan,” to the album’s lead single, “Creature Comfort” (which is essentially an anti-suicide message that somehow comes off as self-centered thanks to a line about their music preventing a fan’s suicide), Arcade Fire is in a state of artistic crisis. For a band that has always stood for something, “Everything Now,” tries to stand for too much – and winds up standing for nothing.