Review: Arcade Fire's The Suburbs

The Suburbs is the third full-length album written and recorded by Arcade Fire. Before I begin my review of the album I would like to discuss one thing.

When I first heard that Arcade Fire’s new album was going to be called The Suburbs, a rare chill went down my spine. Rare because it only occurs when I feel that I’ve stumbled upon something like hidden treasure; a detail so brilliant and invaluable that the safest place for it to be kept is in plain sight under conceptual pretense.

If you listen to the last song on the band’s debut, self-titled EP, “Vampire/Forest Fire”, you will find the following lyrics:

“My father was a miner who lived in the suburbs
Let’s live in the suburbs“

At the time, I thought this connection was significant. However, this is a mere coincidence and that fact remains, to this very moment, the biggest disappointment about this album.

However, despite anything I’ve said, this album is incredible. Here’s why:

To begin with, the band stays true to their usual trend of constant creative evolution; this album barely resembles any of their previous work either aurally and aesthetically. In fact, I’m confident enough to say that, pending argument in favor of Funeral, this is their most mature album as musicians and songwriters. The album explores the dark, numbing aspects of suburban life and the very real consequences of being consumed by the monotony of every day life. Now, I understand how that may sound pretentious as hell, but if you listen to this album for yourself you will undoubtedly uncover a lot of things to relate to; probably more than you would care to admit.

And now: songwriting. You can plainly hear on tracks like “Ready To Start” and “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” that this album also plays to the strengths of current pop music without losing a single strand of the band’s signature sound or integrity. That is to say, this is unmistakably an Arcade Fire album. The different styles incorporated on this album by the band all fit the band’s MO in their own unique way. To some, it could seem like a slow burn at first given the patient pace of the first few tracks prior to the album’s first big burst of energy, “Empty Room”. However, after several listens, I started to get a grip of the pace and found that it, in fact, flowed rather well. I did, however, notice that there is a sort of ‘natural divide’ 10 songs in. Following the grim epic, “Suburban War”, the album seems to take an ‘intermission’ of sorts and cuts back into the action in full force with the most straightforward track on the record, “Month of May”. A better illustration to compare this transition to would be a film where the first 10 minutes of the film establish the setting, characters, and conflict followed by the opening credits and immediately you’re launched into the story in present day with insight, possibly years later. That or the aftermath to something that will inevitably repeat itself. You see, and this is quite clever, by including a continuation of “The Suburbs” at the end of the album, it serves as both a theme for the story not unlike those used in musicals and plays as well as symbolism representing the story as a loop which further emphasizes the labyrinth-like qualities of life in Suburbia.

Favorite tracks: “Empty Room”, “Suburban War”, and “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” despite how much it reminds me of MGMT’s “Time To Pretend”.

In Conclusion, this dark tale is a sterling achievement in Arcade Fire’s discography and is definitely in consideration for one of the best albums of the year.

9/10