Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
A Christian Perspective
Dave Crofts, 4th July 2007
Neon Bible, the eagerly-awaited second album from Canadian art rockers Arcade Fire, has already established itself as one of 2007's most important releases. The music press hailed it as "the album of the year - already!" (Q Magazine) and critical acclaim for the record has been relentless. Sales figures have been no less impressive, propelling the album to number 2 in both the UK and US charts in its week of release - a significant achievement for a band who are notoriously publicity-shy and whose sound could hardly be termed mainstream.
The band's first album, Funeral, steadily gathered momentum following its UK release in 2005. News started to spread of this eccentric seven-piece group whose songs bristled with energy and whose impromptu gigs at small venues (often church halls) had garnered a reputation as one of the most incredible live experiences on offer. By 2007, the people in the know knew about Arcade Fire, and Neon Bible had become a keenly anticipated release.
And it didn't disappoint. From the throbbing piano of opener 'Black Mirror', through the awesome and audacious church organ of 'Intervention' all the way to the chilling climax of 'My Body Is A Cage', Neon Bible is an album that makes you sit up and take notice. It sounds like nothing else in the charts - and has that marvellous quality of seeming to improve with every listen as you notice new elements in the richly orchestrated arrangements. Such was the band's commitment to musical innovation that frontman Win Butler insisted his band learn new instruments in the run-up to the recording sessions.
Neon Bible is a genuinely excellent album - the sound of an extremely talented group of musicians in full creative control. Ironic, then, that one of the album's main themes should be a world seemingly out of control. Whilst Funeral had the darker title, Neon Bible is the bleaker of the two records. If Funeral's focus was personal tragedy (band members suffered several bereavements during the album's genesis), Neon Bible takes a broader view - and the world it sees gives little cause for optimism.
Win Butler described the album's sound as "like standing by the ocean at night" - an accurate description, as both music and lyrics are permeated by a sense of impending doom.
Nothing lasts forever, that's the way it's gotta be
There's a great black wave in the middle of the sea
'Black Wave / Bad Vibrations'
Cause the tide is high, and it's rising still
And I don't wanna see it at my windowsill
'Windowsill'
I'm living in an age that calls darkness light
[...]
I'm living in an age that screams my name at night
But when I get to the doorway, there's no one in sight
'My Body Is A Cage'
Indeed, the album is as thematically fascinating as it is musically compelling. It is rare to find an album as tightly themed as Neon Bible, with its repeated references to oceans, darkness, departure, escape and religion. And whilst the album is more about creating a feeling than making a manifesto statement, what Butler and co say about the world they see certainly gives cause for comment - if not cause for alarm.
Whilst Win and brother Will Butler are originally from Texas, the band are now based in Montreal, Canada - enabling them to put America under the spotlight from the perspective of the outsider. There is a sense of trepidation at a culture preoccupied with surveillance and living in paranoia under the threat of terrorism ("Mirror, mirror on the wall, show me where them bombs will fall." - 'Black Mirror'). 'Keep The Car Running' calls for an urgent escape from this kind of society and even 'No Cars Go' - a song written some years before the others on Neon Bible - ends with the importunate call of "Let's go!"
Perhaps the most direct statement of concern at the state of modern America comes in 'Windowsill':
Don't wanna fight in a holy war
Don't want the salesmen knocking at my door
I don't wanna live in America no more
[...]
MTV, what have you done to me?
Save my soul, set me free!
Set me free! What have you done to me?
I can't breathe! I can't see!
World War III, when are you coming for me?
Been kicking up sparks, we set the flames free
The windows are locked now so what'll it be?
A house on fire or a rising sea?
'Windowsill'
It seems one of the major aspects of American culture that comes in line for Arcade Fire's criticism is religion - specifically the sort of superficial, hypocritical religion that is preoccupied with show rather than substance. The album's title and title track allude to a particular flavour of Bible-belt Christianity, where the preacher pours out "A vial of hope and a vial of pain / In the light they both looked the same," and where there's "Not much chance of survival if the Neon Bible's right".
The next track, 'Intervention', address a man who is "Working for the church while your family dies" and who, by the final chorus, is "Working for the church while your life falls apart / Singing hallelujah with the fear in your heart." And '(Antichrist Television Blues)' - a delightfully upbeat, near-country number - tells the story of a man so desperate for fame and fortune that he prays fervently for his daughter to achieve pop stardom, convincing himself that he just wants her to be a voice for God's message to the world. And yet the chorus confesses:
Now I'm overcome
By the light of day
My lips are near but my heart is far away
'Antichrist Television Blues'
It's an astute point. One of the major reasons for widespread disillusionment with Christianity is hypocrisy - and it's not just Neon Bible that condemns this attitude. Throughout its pages, the Bible writers point the finger at hypocrites -quoting the prophet Isaiah, Jesus describes the first century Jewish leaders thus:
This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Matthew 15:8-9, quoting Isaiah 29:13
It's one of many Biblical references that can be found in Neon Bible. Arcade Fire display a striking familiarity with Christianity, with Biblical themes and images - another unusual feature in today's album charts. And it's worth noting that the album is not critical of Christianity per se - just its neon incarnation, cheapened, detached from reality and stripped of its integrity. There's a lesson in here for the church - unless Christians live out their faith, there's not much chance of survival.
Neon Bible pictures a world on the brink of self-destruction - and religion, which purports to offer a solution, has become part of the problem. There is hope of escape to freedom - but we "don't know where we're going" ('No Cars Go'). An eloquent expression of post-modern Western angst, the album is as much a cultural landmark as it is a musical one. If you only buy one record featuring a hurdy-gurdy this year, make it this one...