FEATURE:
Second Spin
Arcade Fire – Everything Now
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I have included Arcade Fire on my blog…
when it comes to celebrating their classic work but, to me, their last two albums have been underrated! Everything Now was released in 2017, and it didn’t quite get the great reviews I thought that it would. That being said, the same can be noted of the album before that: the incredible Reflektor from 2013. Maybe Everything Now is not up to the Canadian band’s usual standard of excellence but, to me, it is a great album! To be honest, it has received some praise, but there are a few reviews that have marked it down and compared it negatively to Arcade Fire works of genius like Funeral (2004), and The Suburbs (2010). The problem was that two big and five-star reviews came in very early for Everything Now. NME, and The Independent both gave it top marks, and I wonder whether they were judging that on the basis of a couple of songs and whether they really listened to the album. There is something inherently flawed about the way albums are reviewed: we get them new and have to assess them after a listen or two; certain albums grow in strength the more you hear them and with the passing of time. I would not say Everything Now is a five-star album but, as many people gave it middling grades, I feel it is worth more than that! I think the songs, Everything Now, and Put Your Money on Me, are two of the best songs the band have ever recorded – the latter has a nice ABBA feel to it!
Everything Now is quite a tight album, in the sense that it is just over forty-seven minutes long and no track last that long – We Don’t Deserve Love is nearly six-and-a-half minutes but it is one of the weaker numbers. Overall, Everything Now has a load of gems and, despite a couple of weaker tracks, it is a satisfying album where anyone can get something from it! The tracks are nicely arranged so that each half of the album is quite strong and, on Everything Now (Continued), we get a solid finish! I think some were put off by a couple of especially weak numbers. To me, Peter Pan, and Chemistry should have been left off of the album; they are not particularly interesting and, although they are fairly short tracks, they do sap some of the momentum of the album! They are tracks five and six respectively so they are out of the way with soon enough. Apart from some missteps, there is a lot to love about Everything Now. From the exert of The Coffee Cola Song by Francis Bebey on the title song, through to the addictive chorus of Put Your Money on Me, to the nuances of Signs of Life, and Creature Comfort, there is more than enough to recommend about Arcade Fire’s fifth studio album. Maybe critics were comparing it too readily with their earlier work or were expecting something that was like Reflektor – although Everything Now has a great title track, nothing can match the majesty of the David Bowie-featuring Reflektor!
I am going to bring in a couple of reviews that sort of show differing opinions. The first is a five-star review from NME. This is what they had to say about Everything Now:
“Arcade Fire have spent a career making a virtue of their own pomposity. Since 2004 debut ‘Funeral’, they’ve been unafraid to wrestle with big ideas that most bands wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. If it sometimes appears as though they believe society’s ills can be solved, or at least diagnosed, through the medium of grandiose art-rock records, you nonetheless have to admire their conviction that music ought to represent something more than mere ‘content’. Thankfully, after the ambitious-but-uneven ‘Reflektor’ (2013), ‘Everything Now’ marks an emphatic return to those lofty standards.
“Every song that I’ve ever heard is playing at the same time, it’s absurd,” declares starry-eyed frontman Win Butler on the album’s title-track, which is certainly one way to describe its mash-up of ‘Dancing Queen’ and Talking Heads’ ‘Road to Nowhere’. Uplifting, incisive and sublime would be another.
On the flipside, the empty hedonism of ‘Signs of Life’ and the self-loathing, suicidal youths of ‘Creature Comfort’ – one of whom, Butler notes, “Came so close/ Filled up the bathtub and put on our first record,” – serve as a reminder of the cruel irony that in this age of total connectivity, we’ve somehow contrived to make ourselves more isolated and alone than ever. ‘Everything Now’ might occasionally marvel at how far we’ve come, but it’s tempered by notes of dread at where we’re going.
Aptly enough for a record about information overload, it’s also had the veritable kitchen sink thrown at it, employing myriad styles, multiple big-name producers and the sort of ingenious, overblown marketing campaign that’s become the norm for this band. On the two-hander of ‘Infinite Content’ and ‘Infinite_Content’, the same song is presented in contrasting styles – one as a knowing postmodern thrash, the other as a languid acoustic ramble – but ultimately it’s the album’s sense of humanity, not its innate clever-cleverness, that elevates it to something special. “If you can’t see the forest for the trees, just burn it all down,” urges Butler as the mournful synth-pop of closing track ‘We Don’t Deserve Love’ builds to its climax, no longer sermonising from his pulpit, but howling in empathy from the ether”.
Contrast this with a review from AllMusic who, whilst offering some praise, are a bit more constructive and measured in their review:
“The lyrics found on "Creature Comfort" are another good summation of this issue: in an effort to say something meaningful, Arcade Fire simply sound like they're trying too hard. A handful of standouts will no doubt stand the test of time, but unfortunately not enough for a cohesive and fulfilling statement. Thematic flubs aside, the production and sonic directions on Everything Now sound great. The band recruited an enviable team -- including Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter, Portishead's Geoff Barrow, Pulp's Steve Mackey, and longtime collaborator Markus Dravs -- that infuses a groove and danceability that Arcade Fire first touched upon on Reflektor.
On the bright title track, the dramatically funky "Signs of Life," and the glittering "Electric Blue," Everything Now fully embraces the disco spirit. Elsewhere, the band trades the sparkle of the disco ball for visceral throb, like on the urgent "Creature Comfort," the strutting "Good God Damn," and the hypnotizing "Put Your Money on Me," which sounds like Röyksopp remixing LCD Soundsystem. Peppering Everything Now are some potentially divisive experiments -- like the heavy dub of "Peter Pan" and the New Orleans big-band jam of "Chemistry" -- that don't really fit in with the rest of the album. They're interesting experiments outside the band's comfort zone, but distract from the album's flow. Overall, there is just enough on Everything Now to appease fans and attract newcomers with accessible singles, but as an Arcade Fire record, it's unfortunately too inconsistent and ultimately hollow. Arcade Fire sought to make a Big Statement but instead produced one of their least impactful works”.
I would lean more to NME’s side of the fence when it comes to Everything Now. I think the standout tracks outweigh the weaker moments and, as I said, there are a few lesser moments but there is more good and richness than poor tracks. I believe Arcade Fire are working on new material, so we might get a sixth studio album very soon! That would be good news but, if we are looking at the great work of the band, we have to commend Everything Now. Whilst now as emphatic and timeless as one of their earliest albums, it is an album that warrants…
A second spin.