Everything Now
Though Arcade Fire have always been comfortable making grand statements, they’ve also been generous with nuance. After joining forces with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy on 2013’s *Reflektor*, the Canadian outfit bring in a similarly impressive crew of co-producers—Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter, Pulp’s Steve Mackey—for *Everything Now*, an album whose jaunty, disco-indebted art-rock is weighted with haunting takes on information overload (the ABBA-esque title track) and nostalgia (“Signs of Life”). “If you can’t see the forest for the trees, just burn it all down,” frontman Win Butler sings on “We Don’t Deserve Love,” a gorgeous yet disorienting ballad at the album’s conclusion. “And bring the ashes to me.”
The Montreal band’s fifth album finds them in musical and lyrical stasis. The pale, joyless songs don’t transcend their social critique, they succumb to it.
Arcade Fire’s fifth LP Everything Now opens with its title track, twice. The first version, logged under the name “Everything_Now (Continued),” lasts for just under one woozy minute, and it in no way prepares the listener for what’s to come. When the dirgelike intro gives way to the full five-minute “Everything Now,”…
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On their fifth album, Everything Now, Arcade Fire make their first significant stumble, opting more for style over their typical substance.
While there is still plenty to love here, Everything Now feels like Arcade Fire's first non-essential album, a serious matter given their illustrious back-catalogue.
Arcade Fire have variously been hailed for their instrumentation, arrangements and lyrics over their decade-and-a-half existence, but at the...
For almost the last 15 years Arcade Fire have been the torchbearers for indie rock, a rollicking collective of multi-instrumentalists who created a love affair with the early blogs of the new millennium.
When Arcade Fire broke cover last month with single ‘Everything Now’, they offered their statement of intent for the concept of their fifth
Win Butler and co counter the excesses of global infotainment with a rousing mix of disco, electropop and killer tunes<br />
Arcade Fire's fifth LP 'Everything Now' is superficially pleasant, sporadically intriguing, temporarily addictive, but woefully underdeveloped.
Our review of 'Everything Now' finds Arcade Fire blending their classic writing with new sounds for a mostly tight fit.
The fake reviews, shouty anti-consumerism and mock promos may belie insecurity about their progressive new sound, but this album is often gorgeous<br>
Arcade Fire - Everything Now review: dancing around gleefully at the bottom of the barrel
A joyous pop album that depicts a world in tragic freefall. Album review by Howard Male