Like assembling a multilayer chocolate cake, Arcade Fire has put together an album with depth that is packaged and ready for consumption.
"Neon Bible," Arcade Fire's thought-provoking sophomore effort, opens slow and steady with "Black Mirror," accelerating gradually to the song's vicious climax. This opening anthem sets the stage for a track-to-track crescendo that never quits.
Feeding on an anti-American theme, with a particular focus on post-9/11 politics, "Neon Bible" has a stratified depth. Lyrics aside, the band's combination of guitars, violins, organs, and countless other instruments create a sound that is both haunting and engaging. The band even traveled to Budapest to incorporate a Hungarian orchestra into some of their tracks.
"Don't wanna work in the building downtown / No, I don't wanna see when the planes hit the ground," sings the band's front-man Win Butler in "(Antichrist Television Blues)."
The Montreal-based group established themselves in the indie circuit with their debut album, "The Funeral." The album was penned after several of the band member's experienced deaths in their respective families. Ironically, "The Funeral" is fueled more by hope and optimism, while "Neon Bible" takes on much more cynical goals.
Even in the album title the band criticizes religion and the unstable platform it preaches on.
"Working for the church while your family dies / they take what they give you and you keep it inside," sings Butler in "Intervention."
Every track on the album offers something different. With this follow up, Arcade Fire has confirmed that they are not restrained to one set style of music. Butler belts out gothic blues in "My Body is a Cage," as the organs fade in, slowly progressing into a screaming chant to the gods.
"Windowsill" serves as the album's culmination of political angst.
"MTV what have you done to me? / World War III when are you coming for me?"
While most bands with "meaningful" themes patronize listeners and sacrifice the strength of their songs, Arcade Fire uses their opinions to enhance an already strong anthology of multi-layered music.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
