Written by Spike Sidor

WE

WE Arcade Fire Album Review Cover

 

ARCADE FIRE

2022 INDIE-ROCK/FOLK-ROCK

We is the sixth record from the biggest name in indie ever, Arcade Fire. Much of the band’s music is steeped in nostalgia so why not get into a bit ourselves. The days when they were on everyone’s lips, when their debut The Funeral came out of nowhere to be one of the best albums of the decade, when the rock world held their breath in anticipation for Neon Bible which proceeded to top just about every chart, when The Suburbs won the Grammy for album of the year and even the totally out of touch were cracking bad Arcade Fire jokes. They were the idols of the underground and continued to be so in spite of my objections to the obnoxious disco of Reflecktor. In the time between this and their next release it felt that the band finally began to fade from our collective subconscious. Maybe it was all the years since they burst onto the scene, maybe it was the lackluster singles, or maybe it’s my mind revising history with the knowledge of what comes next. That thing is their last record, the indefensible Everything Now. Mediocre dance tunes that when it took risks veered into the offensive whether the grating came through the noise they make or the bizarrely egotistical lyrics they spout.

So yeah, five years after that mess it’s hard to be excited at the prospect of a follow up but here we are, confronted by the stylized in all-caps WE. Wouldn’t you guess it’s about humanity’s dangerous and uncertain future in today’s age. A much covered subject these days but that’s fine, there’s plenty to say and considering the stakes plenty of emotion to fling around. In terms of sound, yes there is a little leftover dance pop but mostly we are more in the comfort zone of their early days, indie rock with as much piano and strings as guitar but more lowkey than before. Actually lowkey isn’t the right word, to be polite it’s mild, to be clear it’s boring. The highlights of this album are The Lightning I and II and part one only makes the cut because it’s tied to the second. Hanging near the back end of the track list its infectious energy is a shock to the system; claps, impassioned piano playing, and a chorus to match but its only two and a half minutes out of forty. Shortly after it’s gone you’ll be wishing it looped around a couple more times. The rest of We is an innocuous haze. Multiple listens deep it takes serious effort to pick out moments in my mind that stand out whether positive or negative. There’s Age of Anxiety II with its super weak attempt to be danceable and complete miss of a chorus. Throw in a basic Alice in Wonderland reference to say how crazy the modern world is and you got yourself a dud. Unconditional II comes to mind because of its corny hook and Peter Gabriel feature that has him playing the role of inconsequential background singer. If he contributed to writing the song as well I can’t tell, it’s as anemic as everything else. 

I’ll be your race and religion
You be my race and religion
This love is no competition
United body and soul

The opening of End of the Empire IV got a good laugh out of me as Win Butler sings “I unsubscribe” over sorrowful piano notes like he is recording a melodramatic reaction video about his favorite content creator. Past that though I come up blank. 

We is just so bland; not bad but only barely. If The Lightning II did not exist or if they decided to stretch their lack of ideas for another ten minutes then this could have entered painful territory. As is, it’s a chore that entertains sporadically. Perhaps they are another act that has reached their twilight years. Of middling releases and solo material. Of bi-annual big money festival gigs and anniversary shows. I expect a self-congratulatory documentary in the future along with a persistent stream of declarations to accompany the smallest soundbite suggesting that “in reinventing themselves they found themselves” and “the old Arcade Fire is back”. Everything changes and artists are no different, the old Arcade Fire will never be back no matter how long you wait on that pristine cul-de-sac curb. All you can hope is that they find some kind of creative spark in whatever form that may be. 

4-5/10

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SNAIL MAIL 2021 INDIE-ROCK/SINGER-SONGWRITER