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Music Review:
Arcade Fire, Funeral
FUNERAL
1. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
2. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
3. Une Annee Sans Lumière
4. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
5. Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles) 6. Crown Of Love
7. Wake Up
8. Haiti
9. Rebellion (Lies)
10. The Backseat
JUICY TIDBITS
Every so often, a band comes out of nowhere and revolutionizes the fading music industry. I believe this is the case for Arcade Fire, a group out of Montreal who released their first studio album in 2004.
Although the band has been touring for almost a year since Funeral's release, it wasn't until early 2005 that I first heard "Rebellion (Lies)" on mainstream radio. It would be months later that Much Music would play the group's strange, idyllic video during its weekly video countdown. And later still that Funeral would enter the Billboard charts with 60,000 copies sold (just for comparison: Nickelback has sold 325,000 copies of All the Right Reasons in its first week of release). The Arcade Fire, much like its studio effort, is slowly gaining momentum - which somehow seems fitting for such an eccentric group of musicians that persevered in the most adverse of times.
Arcade Fire is comprised of Win Butler, a Texas native who relocated to Montreal years ago, and his bride, Régine Chassagne, a Haitian refugee who fled her native country, then under the dictatorship of Francois Duvalier, in the 1960s. The couple married in 2003 and immediately entered the studio to record Funeral, amassing musician friends along the way. By the time the album was finished in early 2004 and picked up by Merge Records, Arcade Fire had grown to include Richard Parry (guitar, percussion, keyboards, upright bass), Tim Kingsbury (bass, guitar), Will Butler (percussion, helmet, guitar, bass guitar), Sarah Neufeld (violin, backing vocals), and Jeremy Gara (drums, guitar) (okay, there's someone named Alexander on the band's official site - I have no idea who he is). Howard Bilerman jumped on board to play the drums on Funeral, but has since left to pursue his own endeavours. And Owen Pallett, who had nothing to do with Funeral, has toured with the group and lends his string prowess to live shows. Because it seems that everyone on Arcade Fire plays at least ten instruments, many praise their energetic, orchestral performances and band members often switch duties to lend a new sound to their live shows.
A series of deaths in the family, all within a one-month period, plagued the band during the recording of Funeral. These events led to the eventual name of the album, as well as the themes found throughout. But instead of focusing on death, Arcade Fire has turned their pain into a tribute to life; or specifically, the cycle of life. This doesn't mean that most songs aren't depressing, sad or melancholy - in fact, you'll be strapped to find a good love song to put on your wedding CD - but they're bursting with underlying hope, whether it be instrumental or in the earnest yearning in Win's voice, who fronts most of the tracks here. As Robert Everett Green of The Globe & Mail once said, "It takes a band like Arcade Fire to remind you that we are all custodians of our innocence and that we let it die at our peril." Well said, Everett, well said. Maybe that's why you make the big bucks at The Globe & Mail.
Funeral is good for many reasons, but most of it is attributed to the cohesiveness of the album. There are four thematically interconnected songs that play almost back-to-back: Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighbourhood #2 (Laika), "Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)," and Neighbourhood #4 (7 Kettles). Since the band is Canadian, I'm just going to go with the Canadian spelling here. It's a weird and wonderful experience to listen to these songs in succession. In a strange way, they tell a bleak story about a town that's been covered in snow, and the children within this town build tunnels and grow thick skins and live among the cold ruins, forgetting all they've left behind. "We let our hair grow long and forget all we used to know," Win sings on "Tunnels." "Then we tried to name our babies, but we forgot all the names that, the names that we used to know," Win moans seconds later. The only juxtaposition to these haunting, perhaps too-prophetic words is the beautiful melody of each song, which swells and grows as the songs progress. If Arcade Fire is good at something, it's conveying feeling through composition. I never thought an accordion could ever make me feel sad, but after hearing "Laika," here we are.
Although there is strength in each "Neighbourhood" track, the best and most instrumentally proficient is Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out). In an interview with Pitchfork Magazine, Win alludes to a story that Régine told him about a weeklong power out in Montreal years ago, although he neither admits or denies that this song is based on actual events. (Win and Régine penned most of the songs on Funeral.) In "Power Out," the power is out, and the children are running amok. The rhythmic, heavy beat in the background is a perfect compliment to lyrics such as, "I went out into the night, I went out to pick a fight with anyone," and "Kids are dyin' out in the snow, look at them go…and the power's out in the heart of man, take it from your heart, put it in your hand." (Eat your heart out, "songwriter" Ashlee Simpson.) The tight drumming, credited to Howard Bilerman, is almost hypnotic. And the accompanying music video is a treat in itself.
Another favourite is Wake Up, which also has a heavy bass and slow rock riff. The song starts off with all instruments accounted for, and a loud vocal ensemble, which makes the song the fullest, sound-wise, of all the tracks here. The music is reminiscent of a rock ballad, almost, but the lyrics are far from it. As the song starts, Win cries, "Something filled up my heart with nothin', someone told me not to cry. But now that I'm older, my heart's colder, and I can see that it's a lie." At the very end, a plucky piano starts in (almost like in Elton John's "Crocodile Rock"), which sounds odd but somehow works. And unlike most other tracks on Funeral, "Wake Up" de-crescendos as the song winds down. Rebellion (Lies) transitions nicely from "Haiti," the song before it, and is the reason why I fell in love with Arcade Fire in the first place. (Contrary to popular belief, this is not because I constantly hear the refrain "lies…lies!" in my head whenever George Bush speaks.) This song relies more on the violin and piano than others, and both instruments are understatedly pleasant. Plus, it's a good song to bop your head to.
But Arcade Fire, as promising as they are, cannot escape all criticisms. I'll let Kitty Empire of The Observer field this one: "Those who struggle with wayward vocals will find Butler's adenoidal holler a little difficult to hear." Alas, it is true. Win doesn't have the best voice in town, and thankfully most of it is masked by the instrumental accompaniment or the backing vocals of Régine, who fares a little better in the singing department. It's a little trying to hear Win strain through some notes like he's got a bad cold, and slur through others like he's not sure about the lyrics, but it doesn't take away from the overall brilliance of the album.
Another noteworthy track is Haiti, Régine's unnerving tribute to her homeland. "Haiti, ma pays…wounded mother I'll never see," she sings over a staccato guitar and heavy drums. "Ma famille…set me free." Régine truly shines on this track. Even with French sprinkled throughout the song, the anguish she feels in her heart is apparent: "Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see. In the forest we are hiding, unmarked graves where flowers grow." One track that does not get love from me, no matter how many times I listen to it, is Crown of Love, the closest thing you'll find on here about romantic love. Regardless of its flowing lyrics, the song is just maudlin and slow (often veering into some weird folksy waltz), and Win's voice is showcased too much here to not notice that there might be something wrong.
Admittedly, Arcade Fire isn't for everyone. Their mix of rock, folk, and traditional French music is just beginning to evolve and they're finding their footing among other indie acts that have dominated the scene for years. But for a first attempt, Funeral hits the mark where it's intended, and the result is very much like a beautiful melody. ¤ C.Ho.
FUNERAL:
(out of 5)