One record at a time: 9. Arcade Fire: Everything Now

So, the next album in my collection has actually been opened and played! Arcade Fire "Everything Now" is from 2017 - which seems astonishing as I feel like it came out only recently. I seem to have the Japanese language variant of the sleeve but I have no idea where I bought it from. This album is a bit of a change in direction for the band and appeals to me much more than some of their other efforts. When I fist played this I had to check to see if it was produced by James Murphy it sounded so familiar in execution. To my astonishment I found it was actually co-produced by Thomas Bangalter and suddenly the prominent synthesizers and groovy drums made sense. Realising this album was (half) produced by one half of Daft Punk elevated it to a different plane and I gave it far more attention that might otherwise have done.

"Everything Now" is a straight up radio friendly, disco pop song that is catchy and satisfying. Unfortunately when it was released as a single this track received a good kicking from those unable to cope with change. "Signs of Life" is an archetypal LCD Soundsystem song complete with bad lyrics. Things move up a gear with "Creature Comfort" which is the perfect blend of traditional instruments and electronics. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise to find this track had also been through the hands of Geoff Barrow. This is hands down the best track on the album and worth the admission fee on its own. Things are followed by the pseudo dub of "Peter Pan". I don't like dub much but this track is pretty interesting with its distorted bassline and synth motifs. "Chemistry" continues the faux reggae theme and is surprisingly fun. The bizarrely titled "Infinite Content" and "Infinite_Content" are equally disappointing and annoying (especially "Infinite_Content"). Thankfully these are short pieces and side one is finished. Whatever happens on side two, we're already ahead of "Funeral".

Whilst "Electric Blue" is probably one of the least original song titles the band will ever employ, the music is great. Copious drum machine and synths. "Good God Damn" finds us back in that electric bass dominated LCD Soundsystem type groove but the repetitive lyrics begin to annoy. "Put Your Money On Me" instantly sounds like a cracker. Synth arpeggios creep out of the ether as Will begins to croon the infectious melody that almost sounds like.....dare I say it?....Pet Shop Boys. "We Don't Deserve Love" represent a nice change of pace and kicks off with analogue drum machines and synth textures before Daniel Lanois's steel guitar begins to emerge. Yes, 7 time Grammy award winning producer Daniel Lanois is used as a session musician - that's how grandiose this album is. This track is epic and is a fitting end to an astonishing album. Except it's not the end as they have to mess things up by reprising the title track in the form of "Everything Now (Continued)". But the ending is a minor complaint. This is a great album and whilst it was reviled by the purists, I think it is by far the band's best work. 3/5