Arcade Fire - 'The Suburbs'

Following their critically acclaimed 2004 debut Funeral, and the even better Neon Bible in 2006, Arcade Fire have returned with a glorious concept album dealing with wasted youth, love, life and pain in western suburbia.

Inspired by band members Win and Will Butler’s recollections of growing up in Houston, Texas, The Suburbs is an electric powerhouse of sentimental nostalgia, aimed straight at those who remember the “Wasted hours, before we knew, Where to go, and what to do”. The album is steadily paced, and moving from track to track we're invited into distant memories across the suburban sprawl of weekend drives, heartaches and heartbreaks. The constant undertone of melancholy is taken seriously, but it never becomes listless.

At its best, the spirit of the The Suburbs is brought to life with album stand-outs ‘Rococo’, the punk-infused foot-stomper 'Month of May’, ‘City With No Children’, and the memorable ‘We Used To Wait’; a heart-felt tale of distant love letters in the long-gone world of a slow, carefree youth. The Springsteen-ness of Neon Bible seems to have taken a back seat on The Suburbs to make space for Neil Young, another of Butler's heroes, particularly on the beautifully dreamy acoustic driven ‘Wasted Hours’ and ‘Deep Blue’.

Butler’s wife and band mate Régine Chassagne has her moment to shine on ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’, a downtown whisperer of a track which sounds more than a little bit like Blondie’s ‘Heart of Glass’. The track speaks to that part in many of us that wants to escape the sprawl of suburban and urban life; of cities and shopping centres that are seemingly never-ending. It's a feeling I can't help but share when I come back to London every holiday; "Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small, Can we ever get away from the sprawl?"

The Suburbs marks a new level of maturity for Arcade Fire. The angst of the previous album isn’t completely gone, and still has a place in their music, but now they’ve had a chance to vent they’ve revealed a new side to themselves. It is one of previously unseen sentimentality and emotion, and it works. That said, I can't help but feel this is the album that is going to split the band's fanbase. If, like Arcade Fire themselves, you've grown up slightly since the fuelled masterpieces of Funeral and Neon Bible, then The Suburbs should offer a warm welcome into a world of melancholic thoughts and memories. If you're expecting another 'Rebellion (Lies)', wait until you've calmed down a bit to appreciate this one.

During these slow summer days and nights between university terms, The Suburbs couldn’t be a more perfect fit.

Like it? Try Radiohead, Mystery Jets, Tokyo Police Club and Wolf Parade.

The Suburbs - Out Now - ★★★★☆

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