Arcade Fire had successfully recruited my body and now they were coming for my soul.
I’m an Arcade Fire superfan, ready to do whatever they tell me. I buy the merch and Google search “where does Régine Chassagne live?” every few days, giving Kate Bush a rest. Founder Régine Chassagne plays accordion, drums, xylophone, hurdy-gurdy, keyboards and organ sometimes at the same time (as do the other band members). She dreams songs backwards in her head. I saw them live at Wembley Arena in 2017 with two other superfans and like most superfans I was a bit judgemental toward the disturbing display of unchecked superfannery going on. The floor was empty and suddenly the whole place was a turgid sea of superfans creating shapes with their writhing bodies seemingly for the band’s exclusive pleasure. Arcade Fire had successfully recruited my body and now they were coming for my soul. Superfan devotion I suspect has been cultivated using subliminal messaging and by the time they get to Everything Now they shamelessly flash slogans that find a permanent home in our subconscious. I need them. Frontman Win Butler played “It’s Never Over (Hey Orpheus)” to his unborn son during the making of Reflektor and he claims the song still quiets him. Arcade Fire hypnotise their children. I saw a comment below concert footage of Arcade Fire on YouTube. Stevens Smith. 1 year ago. “Once you’ve seen them live your just a full on crack head to their music fact”
Proof that music is in your DNA lvino Rey American jazz guitarist and bandleader is Win’s granddad and Arcade Fire have a big band feel, arrangements are written in strophic form with the same phrase and chord structure repeated several times. Sound familiar, superfans? I win.
Funeral, Neon Bible, The Suburbs were about looking back, fueled by nostalgia, loss and jocundity. Reflektor is colder and is about looking in and seeing what you want to see. Refektor explores the new digital mythology and its impact on our sense of self. Screens that became a mirror rather than a window, from Bill Gates to Steve Jobs. Fact. And yes I used the word ‘jocundity’.