Arcade Fire - 4 Tracks from The Suburbs

Arcade Fire's third album The Suburbs drops on August 3.  The tracklisting is here.  Four songs from the album have been released/leaked - the title track, "Month of May", "Ready to Start", and "We Used to Wait".

So what do Arcade Fire sound like in 2k10?  Based on these four songs, the sound is less orchestral, more punchy than what we've heard previously from AF.

The Suburbs - The opening track, establishing the theme/mission statement for the record.  "You always seemed so sure that one day we'd be fighting in a suburban war".  But what are the suburbs, really?  Well they're the place where you raise a family.  Win sings about wanting a daughter while he's still young, but if that's too much to ask, send him a son.  I can relate.  I'm 28 and I absolutely want a family, seems like it's getting around the time when I should start.  There are two women in my life right now, but honestly, the prospects of starting a family with either of them anytime soon are not good.  Sound-wise, this track slowly saunters into the room, and BUILDS.

Ready to Start - You'd think that a song called "Ready to Start" would be the obvious choice for opening track, but no, this is Track #2.  I'd say that this is the best bridge between previous and current Arcade Fire.  I also feel like this song will be the soundtrack for movie trailers/commercials in the future.  "If I was scared, I would.  And if I was bored, you know I would.  And if I was yours, but I'm not".

Month of May - Arcade Fire have never done a riotous rocker like this before, and I love it.  There's a 1-2-3-4 followed by a heavy riff, and away we go.  "The kids are still standing with their arms folded tight, kids are still standing with their arms folded tight.  Well some things are good and some things are right, but the kids are still standing with their arms folded tight".  The message to me is that these days, everyone is too cool for school, the easiest thing to do is to not care too much about anything.  But that's no way to live.

We Used to Wait - A piano riff opens and provides the backbone for this track.  We used to write letters, we used to wait.  A children's choir joins in with Win towards the end of the song, to great effect.  I'm not sure exactly what Win was writing about, but what I take away from this song is that things have changed.  We used to wait for it.  Not anymore.

You can pre-order The Suburbs from Merge here.  If you do, you get to download "The Suburbs" and "Month of May" immediately.