| ARCADE FIRE - The Suburbs |
| Written by Michael McClelland | ||
| Monday, 13 September 2010 01:52 | ||
So no matter how great the tracks preceding the end of an album may be, your mind will be wandering elsewhere and you won’t have the mental capacity to pay attention to subtleties anymore. It all sounds a bit pretentious, I guess – but when you spend money on an album (or even if you don’t [which you probably don’t, admit it]), don’t say you never want your money’s worth. So to achieve this, you have to unnecessarily break up your listening in order to fully appreciate everything you hear without getting tired and bored. And the burden falls on the artist to create an album that doesn’t drag on if it does exceed a certain length. The point here is that physical limitations - though annoying and more often a hindrance than not - in this case have a great way of chopping things up for you so you don’t have to do all the work. Because as ironic as it sounds, for me, getting up to lift a needle off a record and changing the side over is an easier thing to do because it’s a necessity that I can live with. Pausing an album in the middle on iTunes just because I’m losing attention just seems dumb and unnecessary. I don’t HAVE to do it, so I don’t. I might just be biased, though – many of the first albums I ever fell in love with were short and to the point. 'Led Zeppelin IV' for instance, which I bought at age 15, is just 8 tracks. Never mind the 8 minutes of 'Stairway To Heaven'... the point remains, though, that even in digital format this album is bearably short enough for me to listen to the whole thing in one sitting. It’s interesting enough with the right amount of twists and turns to keep my interest peaked. I’ve even gone out of my way to avoid very famous and very popular albums that are almost as long as they are respected. I just don’t have the time for long albums. Forget the autobiography here, though, I have a point to make with all this self-indulgence. And, like the issue in question, I very slowly (very slowly) am reaching my point. And that is that the ARCADE FIRE’s new album is damn long. One hour in length. 60 minutes: that’s enough time to be catching up on the latest current affairs on television. Or watch a few episodes of your favourite brainless sitcom. Or get some study in for an exam. Or practically sit an exam. Of course, we might not necessarily feel like doing any of these things in an hour of our time... so that’s why we go out and buy 'THE SUBURBS'. As the minutes wear on, though, you may start to reconsider whether or not you would actually rather be doing something else. Even sitting an exam. Of course, quantity isn’t proportional to quality (as overused catchphrases have beaten into us [and various dead horses]). I do concede, then, that there isn’t just a LOT of music on the new Arcade Fire album... there’s a lot of good music. Obviously, the trouble I had was paying attention to most of it. Which is what I’m trying to address - when an album’s succinct, I can usually take in 100% of it loud and clear (or just clear, depending on how good it is). As it stands, though, this one will have to be a grower - which I guess isn’t ever a bad thing. But in this case, the Arcade Fire haven’t done their best to make their album immediately accessible to people like me. Okay, so that’s enough self-indulgence (on my part... o-ho!). I’ll cut to what you probably want to know about this album by addressing several key points that will keep you interested. Track 5 ‘Empty Room’ – After four tracks of proven-to-work hooks and curious lyrical content, ‘Empty Room’ breaks from the formula and surprises you with an urgent kind of noisiness. After the 2 minute mark you’ll begin hearing a number of influences showing up (My Bloody Valentine in particular) as the instruments take the fore while the vocals sink away. Track 6, ‘City With No Children’ – There’s a punchy kick to this opening riff that sharply contrasts the dreary tone of the rest of the album in a nice way. Despite its optimistic tone, I’m not quite convinced that the chord progression works well enough for the verses. I feel like a less obviously major, tonic sounding harmony, would have complimented the opening riff better. Blah blah music terms... sorry. Track 8, ‘Half Light II (No Celebration)’ – What an awesomely triumphant sounding track – but considering its title, what an irony huh? I don’t know how the Arcade Fire keep up the variation of production on this album, but the shimmering harmonies of those strings gel with the understated vocal delivery in a uniquely delicate way. Not the kind of fragile delicateness that was hinted at in ‘Half Light I’, either. Instead, it works itself up with the percussion of a small machine gently powering away in a factory. Sounds like a weird paradox, but when you observe that tremolo synth sound hammering in the background subtly driving the song, you’ll know what I mean. Track 13, ‘We Used To Wait’ – Don’t get me wrong, the very Arcade Fire crescendo of this track is as enjoyable as ever, but after 12 tracks of this kind of thing you’re bound to get a little tired of it. Which is why I’m pointing out a great subtlety of the track, instead. The crossover from 4:50 of tyres bumping on the road is very nicely understated and in my view fits in very well with the theme of the album. It also provides a cool dynamic contrast which in its humbleness evokes childhood memories of sitting in the back seat of a car, drifting off to sleep. It’s a great meditative effect that also prepares you for the conclusion of the album. Track 15, ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’ – This deserves its own paragraph. Cheese On Toast called it the best song of all time. They’re not the only ones frothing at the mouth over this dancey number as it seems much of the who’s-who of the Internet are excited about the way this apocalyptic track grabs you after the sleepy mistiness of ‘Sprawl I (Flatland)’. While I can’t really see the ‘Heart Of Glass’ comparisons some have pointed out, I think it’s pretty undeniable that the raw energy of this one makes it the highlight of the album. Régine Chassagne steps in to steal your tired ears away from frontman Win Butler’s crooning, and it’s about time she gets the spotlight, too. I think the reason it’s such a powerful song is the way the emotion of it grabs you: “They heard me singing and they told me to stop / Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock...” The catchiness leans upon cleverness, too – right when you think the chorus will end at “Sometimes I wonder if the world’s so small / That we can’t ever get away from the sprawl”, it instead continues on for another 3-4 lines which are so melodically pleasing they’re forgiven for outstaying their welcome. It’s a great note to end the album on – but nope, the Arcade Fire isn’t done there, either. There’s 1 minutes 28 seconds remaining via a refrain to sum up the tone of the album and wrap up the concept. Just like in ‘Empty Room’, the vocals slowly sink away from your ears as if to drown in a sea of suburban life. Coupled with those hopelessly descending strings, any bounciness and optimism of the opening track it references is completely negated. Instead, Win Butler emphasises the futility and longevity of a boring middle-class life as the album finale fades into the darkness. The hushed whispers remind you: “If I could have it back / All the time that we wasted, I’d only waste it again...” This is where you kind of get the point of the album. The critics keep saying Butler is trying to be unwarrantedly profound by writing ambiguous lyrics and metaphors about the dark side of modern urban life – a point that is by no stretch original. Just ask 'OK Computer' by Radiohead, released over 10 years ago. If the critics listened to the music, however, they’d realise that the Arcade Fire have crafted a work that sounds like a mid-life crisis. It’s like Win Butler was up late one night in his bed pondering his own mortality, unaware a mindreader was in the room transcribing his thoughts into music. So while I may criticise 'The Suburbs' for being too long and boring, Win Butler is criticising the suburbs themselves for exactly the same reasons. But even still, 'The Suburbs' (the album) isn’t too long and boring. It’s just a matter of effort. If you take notice of the subtleties and really take it in (that is, don’t distract yourself while you’re listening), you’ll get a whole lot more out of it. There really isn’t a bad song on this album. The Arcade Fire fans among you may draw as many comparisons to 'Funeral' as you like, but it won’t enhance your enjoyment of the album. Instead, listen to whatever fragment of lyrics you may pick up on - but instead of analysing their self-indulgence and needless proclamations, try to sing along or something. At least it’ll stick in your head better that way. MUST-LISTEN: ‘The Suburbs’, ‘City With No Children’, ‘Half Light II (No Celebration)’, ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’, ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’, ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’. HEARTOMETER: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [ out of 10 ] YOU WILL LIKE, IF YOU LIKE: Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Wilco, 'Brave New World'... and being disillusioned. THIS COULD HAVE WON US OVER MORE, IF... there were more peaks and climaxes to keep us interested. WATCH: Régine Chassagne dancing around to ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' at Madison Square Garden: |
