The release of a new Arcade Fire record is often preceded by a complex and subversive marketing campaign. From fake bands (The Reflektors) to viral art campaigns (Neon Bible), the band relish pulling apart and reimagining themselves. The rolling out of fifth record, Everything Now has been no exception with an ever-present, tongue-in-cheek derision of consumerism and ‘content consumption’. In a somewhat genius move, the band also reviewed its own record on mock site stereoyum.com, simultaneously pre-empting boilerplate criticism and parodying record review tropes (that’s right, I just reviewed a review of reviews – how’s that for content?!).
If the marketing was ambitious, the record itself is utterly relentless, bursting at the seams with a myriad of producers, genres and themes. From disco (‘Signs of Life’) to synth-pop (‘Electric Blue’) via funk (‘Good God Dam’), dance (‘Put Your Money on Me’) and about everything in-between. The satirical ‘Infinite Content’ is even offered up in two flavours over consecutive tracks, a punk rock blast re-worked immediately as a country ditty.
For all the fun, the songs themselves return time and again to themes of isolation and disassociation. Evident most obviously in the pulsating ‘Creature Comfort’ which taps into a generation lost in the face of impossible expectations (“God, make me famous / if you can’t, just make it painless”). Similar to Reflektor’s anthem for a marginalised LGBTQ community ‘We Exist’, these are the moments that lend the record weight and keep it from wandering off course.
Importantly, Everywhere Now feels just like an Arcade Fire Record should. They may be at a point in their career where they’re revisiting rather than reinventing and that’s comforting in a way. The “ohhs and ahhs”, the hand claps, the sing-a-longs and the irreverent sentiment are all hallmarks of a great Arcade Fire record and they’re all here in spades. Everything Now is familiar and new, meaningful and fun. Infinitely good content.
