Arcade Fire
Everything Now

Among the most anticipated albums of the year, the new work by Arcade Fire marks a clear line of demarcation with the past.

Although they have long been accustomed to large numbers that make the indie band label somewhat limiting, the Canadians release this new "Everything Now" through the major Columbia. However, the substance does not seem to change much. And do not be misled by the highly enjoyable Abba-scented progress of the super single/title track: this time, too, there are few compromises, and they are cleverly distributed throughout the tracklist.

Produced by an impressive series of big names (notably Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk and Markus Dravs, who worked on "Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends" by Coldplay and "The Suburbs" by Arcade Fire themselves), "Everything Now" was preceded by four singles, heavily discussed mainly due to the proposed sound shift. Speaking of the first single, the following "Creature Comfort" (among the best parts of the work) partially recovers certain atmospheres from the previous Reflektor and spices them with a hint of new wave and post-punk as necessary. "Signs Of Life" has a nice funky beat and fits well into the sound fabric of the album, "Electric Blue" convinces but after a few listens, especially because of Regina's slightly too cold and over-the-top performance as the lead singer here.

The (few) songs not released as singles diverge a bit from the "festive" atmosphere proposed thus far: "Peter Pan" thrives on electronic pulses, "Chemistry" is pure reggae, and "Infinite Content" is divided into two mini-parts (the first a very nervous and spirited indie-rock, the second a slow ballad).

All this serves as an introduction to the finale that changes things a bit: Arcade Fire takes their foot off the pedal and decisively returns to the territory of "The Suburbs" with three excellent pieces like "Good God Damn" (minimal and hypnotic), "Put Your Money On Me" (more lively and engaging), and "We Don’t Deserve Love" (slower and more thoughtful), before closing with a reprise of "Everything Now."

This fifth effort by Arcade Fire establishes them (even if perhaps it was no longer needed) at the level of certain heavyweights of the global alternative rock, showing how the six from Montreal are now determined and clear-headed. Although for the first time, they look more to the past and show a vague conservative instinct that was previously repressed.

We will see with future efforts which of the two paths they will take: that of further evolution or that of consolidating what has been shown so far.

Best track: Creature Comfort