When word started to circulate among fans that the next Arcade Fire release would be a concept album dedicated to the suburbs, some were justifiably concerned that the band had gotten lost in its own heady grandeur. And this very likely could have been the case; after all the backstage rants and apparent assholery to fans, the creative minds behind Arcade Fire needed to impart some goodwill to their fans, as an offering to show their indebtedness and indeed their respect for those of us who buy their records. And then The Suburbs was released and all that apprehensiveness melted away, and fans were left in awe of the conceptual intricasies of the new album. While Funeral and Neon Bible both used directionless anxiety and an unmitigated sense of hopelessness to allow us to see the decline we all felt--this fractured identity lent those albums a knowingness and a maturity beyond their years--The Suburbs uses those same emotions to establish connections between us all. That through the suffering and guilt-ridden insecurities of life, we draw closer to one another in our fear, and ultimately our acceptance of each other, as we are. What we find across these tracks is the search and reclamation of the truth, about ourselves, about the world around us, about each other. Songs which use the paranoia of everyday life, such as "The Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) and "The Suburbs", to illuminate the way to go, to show us what we've got and that we have to hold onto it with creased knuckles and bit lips. But far from being hopeful, as such, there are cracks in the bands' somber facade, where we see them just as we are, wondering how we got here and where we go from here. This is our life, fuck anyone who doesn't want it.
Tracklisting:
01. The Suburbs
02. Ready to Start
03. Modern Man
04. Rococo
05. Empty Room
06. City with No Children
07. Half Light I
08. Half Light II (No Celebration)
09. Suburban War
10. Month of May
11. Wasted Hours
12. Deep Blue
13. We Used to Wait
14. Sprawl I (Flatland)
15. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) (listen to the mp3 below)
16. The Suburbs (Continued)
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