With the whispering sound of a winter wind, Neon Bible begins to reveal itself. Subdued and plodding, Black Mirror leads the album off with the drumming and rhythmic guitar strumming as identifiable to The Arcade Fire as Win Butler’s distant quavering vocals. In this, The Arcade Fire’s second full length effort, the band has again created an album in the fullest sense of that word. To skip a song or grasp an exclusive hold of any specific track on this record is to ignorantly deny its potential. This is an album meant to be listened to in its entirety, designed for free thinking and borne of the same.
Creatively AF stretch themselves out further here than on their debut effort ‘Funeral’. Recorded almost entirely in “The Church” - a Quebec Cathedral, the band captures a sonic ambiance which adds hauntingly to their lyrical juxtaposition. The triumphant pipe organ leading off Intervention gains an understated cynical potency as Win Butler’s vocals chime in, “been working for the Church while my family dies.” True to the album’s title, much of Neon Bible deals with themes of war, societal ills and religious fanaticism. Normally to me these types of artistic attempts at irony typically lend themselves to vomit inducing instances of pretension, yet here it comes off remarkably humble and sincere. Good job!
Neon Bible relies enormously on the musical chemistry of the band for its inspiration. Each song taking its shape so much from the entirety of the music that to remove even one musical piece of the puzzle would seemingly tear Neon Bible apart at the seams. One instrument plays off the other to the extent that on its own, each track’s individual instrumentation would sound unrecognizable in relation to the whole if stripped away. There are no dominating guitar riffs or progressions here, instead Neon Bible’s rhythms and melodies rely on collaboration for their formation. Instrumental diversity here is also the rule, as AF utilizes everything from a brass section to a full gospel choir in the service of Neon Bible. The result is the album achieves a unique musical depth and reflective quality moodily drifting through countless melancholy peaks and valleys on its way to finally winding up at My Body is a Cage, Neon Bible’s poignant pipe organ dominated conclusion.
Often times, records made with a progressive bent tend to lose some of their listen ability in the service of a final concept. Thankfully AF has shyed away from any unwarranted 8 minute musical processions or poetic ramblings here and made an entirely excellent and listenable album. Don’t expect to kick up your party a notch with this record… This is a complex and reflective album occupying the same creative musical space as a Broken Social Scene, or the Shins if they started taking some better drugs. Likely the most important release from a Canadian band this year, Neon Bible is best listened to in solitude, or on the middle section of a long road trip, and at that it is.. fantastic!
