May 6, 2022
Columbia
2xLP
In related big-sounding-rock releases, Arcade Fire returned with their first new album in nearly five years. Picking up (sort of) where Everything Now left off, WE continues the bands conceptual dystopian and technophobic anxieties, taking it's name from the Russian novel that bares a striking resemblance to Brave New World. Nigel Godrich, who produced OK Computer, rock's crowing achievement in paranoia, also produced WE. Even as a high-concept album, the narratives write themselves. However, in terms of pure musicality, WE more closely resembles Arcade Fire's early baroque/chamber rock days than the increasingly dance-oriented pop of their last couple albums.