Review: Arcade Fire – ‘Everything Now’

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Exuberant

The lead single from the upcoming album of the same name is a fantastically buoyant summer anthem celebrating an everything now-ness to life.

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Imagine if Daft Punk‘s 2013 hit ‘Get Lucky‘ and Arcade Fire‘s fan-favourite ‘Reflektor‘ had a lovechild. In a nutshell, that equates to ‘Everything Now’: the first taste of the Montreal six-piece’s upcoming album of the same name is a plucky summer anthem.

From the surface, you wouldn’t notice that ‘Everything Now’ is about the on-demand culture brought about by the internet, sharing themes of contemporary impatience and the rise of connected technology with other Arcade Fire hits like ‘Reflektor,’ ‘We Used To Wait,’ and ‘Neon Bible.’ That’s because, in a contrast to their previous work, ‘Everything Now’ celebrates all of that: opening with Régine Chassagne’s positively upbeat piano and featuring passionate backing vocals throughout, it’s Arcade Fire at their sunniest.

Speaking to MistaJam on BBC Radio 1, lead singer Win Butler described the idea for the new single coming from the notion that “almost every event and everything that happens surrounds you on all sides,” with ‘Everything Now’ “trying to capture some of the experiences of being alive now in all its flaws and all its glory.” From the music you can really feel that: Chassagne’s piano continues throughout the track as more and more instruments and vocals are layered on top, sampling music from Cameroonian artist Francis Bebey and the humming of the audience at Arcade Fire’s 2016 Voodoo Festival slot. With the sort of song that will light up festivals across the summer and an Isle Of Wight headline slot less than a week away, now was the perfect time for Arcade Fire to drop their sunniest of moments.

‘Everything Now’ is out now via Columbia

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I play/watch/listen to things, then write about playing/watching/listening to things. Special powers include downing two litres of tea at a time and binging a 13-episode Netflix series in only 12 hours. Records Editor 2018/19 OMG

1 Comment

  1. James Barker on

    Can confirm this was breathtaking live! They opened with an instrumental of it, played an old track and then went into it again in its full glory – possibly my favourite song of the summer!

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