Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

How did Arcade Fire become a global band that mattered? By addressing big questions thoughtfully and passionately. Funeral examined death, Neon Bible tackled modern religion and The Suburbs took a hard look at urban life. On its last album, 2013’s Reflektor, the Montreal band led by the husband-and-wife team of Win Butler and Régine Chassange, dialed down the philosophical intensity and adopted an arsenal of grooves from synth-pop and disco to Haitian rara and Jamaican dub. For its fifth release Arcade Fire aims to marry the two, mixing earnest social commentary with dancefloor-ready beats. The title track is an ABBA-like number about consumption and the need for instant gratification. On “S...

Few indie rock bands have made as big an impact as Arcade Fire. The Montreal collective burst on to the scene with stirring strings and bracing brass. Its concerts, ecstatic performances that resembled emotionally charged, church-based gospel, attracted a fervent following with celebrity fans like David Byrne and David Bowie. The group’s first two anthemic CDs, the best-selling Funeral and Neon Bible, topped year-end polls. Now Arcade Fire, led by Win Butler and his wife Régine Cassagne, has released its third CD, a provocative concept album about suburbia. Arcade Fire knows of where it speaks. Win grew up in the suburbs of Houston, before settling in Montreal and marrying Régine, the daught...