(released on EMI, 2010)
Review by Michael Bird
2.5/5
Whatever the Arcade Fire have done, live or in the studio, they’ve done it big. The mass chant on ‘Wake Up’ is BIG, as is the string-driven crescendo of ‘No Cars Go’ on the groups’ second album Neon Bible. The Arcade Fire have never pulled punches musically, and there was always a palpable sense of urgency about the band, as though all guns blazing was the only way they knew how to do things. Sadly, this isn’t the case with the freshly released (or leaked, if you got in early enough) third album from the Canadian outfit, The Suburbs.
The same basic elements are still presented well enough, and The Suburbs isn’t a bad record by any stretch: there’s still that ever-present ache in Win Butler’s voice, soaring strings over pounding drums and the right mix of songs pulled around by interesting chord changes and songs that just drag one progression through the mud for five minutes. The sum of all these parts is less than satisfying though, and there’s definitely something missing that was present on earlier albums. ‘Half Light I’ recalls the musical tension of ‘Laika’, but without the sincerity or insistence, and opening track ‘The Suburbs’ comes across as an anaemic version of the uplifting march of ‘Rebellion (Lies)’. The group might be striving for a more accessible, measured sound for their third album, but the result simply seems half-hearted and somehow less Arcade Fire-ey than one might hope.
There’s an unpleasant metallic sheen to the production of the album, something that had begun to creep into Neon Bible after the cheapish indie sound of Funeral. With more money to be spent production values are bound to rise, but some of the warmth and hope of earlier Arcade Fire releases came from their less than perfect quality. In addition to (or maybe because of) this, Win Butler’s delivery ends up sounding more whiny than impassioned, and at sixteen same-ish tracks the album well and truly wears out its welcome by the end. To the bands credit they have a clear focus, something that was absent from sophomore album Neon Bible. They have a certain sound they’re going for and certain content to get across lyrically, and they accomplish both of these things. The problem is just that the sound is somewhat middling and the lyrical content is tired and uninspiring.
As the title suggests, The Suburbs is nostalgic and reflective. However, we’ve already heard Win Butler harp on about ghost towns and neighbourhood children, there’s nothing new here that Bruce Springsteen hasn’t said already (‘Born to Run’ would have fit into this album just fine). More than anything else, Butler just seems pissed off about something, and it’s not pleasant. Maybe it’s how he sees the suburbs now as compared to in his youth, the character of the youths themselves or perhaps the same kind of quasi-political beef that riddled Neon Bible. Whatever the case, Butler eschews joy and hope for white middle class PMS on The Suburbs, and it feels like maybe someone should just give the guy a hug.
Some brighter moments are the bouncy ‘Rococo’ and the apparently Depeche Mode inspired ‘Half Light II’, and The Suburbs isn’t without some charm. You get the feeling the album will come to life on stage, and some of the livelier tracks are bound to be crowd pleasers. It might be unfair to view The Suburbs in this light, but it might have been a great release from a band other than Arcade Fire. I could dance to ‘Month of May’, and ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’ is a fantastic excursion into 80’s electro, but the price you pay for putting out Funeral (…And Justice for All, OK Computer, Oracular Spectacular) is fighting heightened expectation and frustration when you release something so-so like The Suburbs (St. Anger, Amnesiac, Congratulations). Sad but true.
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