Arcade Fire have spoken about their much vaunted ambition, after the release of new album ‘The Suburbs’.
In the current indie climate, ambition seems a rare concept. New groups are eager to hark back to the disciplined era of C86, releasing limited edition pressings of their latest cassette only album.
However Arcade Fire stand apart from this. The Canadian group’s euphoric material is near orchestral in its sound and impact, with their new album ‘The Suburbs’ being a typically ambitious affair.
Speaking to Pitchfork, the band likened their approach to that of some classic American novels. “We are ambitious, and I think that the general mode of almost all art these days is pretty small-focused” Will Butler said.
“In literature and in film, the culture is all about these Miranda July-esque small moments observed in a lovely manner. Nothing against Miranda July, but I think that’s the prevailing aesthetic.”
Continuing, the Arcade Fire musician likened the band to the famously epic American novel ‘Moby Dick’. “I remember reading a book where the author was making fun of people who liked (Melville’s) Bartleby, the Scrivener instead of Moby Dick – like favoring a well-crafted short story instead of his flawed, epic thing. But I think we’re definitely much more of a Moby Dick kind of band, and a lot of bands just aren’t.”
“And there are some beautiful small songs out there, and it would be nice if we could theoretically do a small album. Maybe we will. But the music we really reacted to growing up was stuff that was a little bigger and more major label.”
Meanwhile, the band are preparing to launch a typically epic British tour. Arcade Fire are due to launch the tour on December 1st in London’s O2 Arena, before dates in Birmingham, Cardiff and more.
Ending in Glasgow on December 12th, the full list of dates is as follows:
December
1 London O2 Arena
8 Birmingham LG Arena
9 Cardiff Arena
11 Manchester Central
12 Glasgow SECC
