We (Arcade Fire album)

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WE
File:WE (Arcade Fire).png
Standard cover
Studio album by
Arcade Fire
ReleasedMay 6, 2022 (2022-05-06)
Recorded2020–2021
Genre
Length40:18
LabelColumbia
Producer
Arcade Fire chronology
Her (Original Score)
(2021) 		WE
(2022)
Singles from WE
  1. "The Lightning I, II"
    Released: March 17, 2022
  2. "Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)"
    Released: April 27, 2022

We (stylized as WE or "WE") is the sixth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on May 6, 2022, through Columbia Records. Produced by Nigel Godrich and band members Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, the album was recorded in New Orleans; El Paso, Texas; and Mount Desert Island in Maine. The album takes its name from the Russian dystopian novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.[1] It is the final album to feature multi-instrumentalist Will Butler, who departed the band in 2021 shortly after its completion.

We was preceded by two singles: "The Lightning I, II" and "Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)". The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and received moderate commercial success. It debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 32,000 album-equivalent units (including 26,500 copies in pure album sales) in its first week.[2]

Background

In April 2020, Win Butler posted a letter to his Instagram account, indicating that work on a new record had commenced prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and that the writing continued under lockdown measures. Butler noted that he had written a song entitled "Age of Anxiety" before the pandemic and that many of the themes he had begun to explore felt appropriate given the circumstances surrounding the pandemic.[3]

On October 21, 2020, Butler was interviewed for the Broken Record podcast, where he commented about Arcade Fire's sixth album.[4] The band had been writing for a year before the COVID-19 lockdown. During lockdown, Butler kept working and wrote "two or three albums".[5] In April 2020, Butler shared some snippets of new material in the social networks.[6] Arcade Fire had plans to record the album in Texas "during the election".[7]

According to the producer, Nigel Godrich, We was recorded "in the middle of nowhere" outside El Paso, Texas, during the COVID-19 lockdown. Godrich said: "[We] basically lived in a cult for a couple of months. Nobody came in and nobody came out, people delivered the shopping, that sort of vibe just so we could be able to do it. It was a method to make it possible."[8]

Promotion

On April 14, 2021, the band released a 45-minute instrumental piece, entitled "Memories of the Age of Anxiety" on the meditation application Headspace.[9]

In March 2022, fans received postcards marked with the band's logo; the postcards included the note "We missed you," musical notations, as well as an image of an eye with the word "Unsubscribe" written below. Those same images began to appear in signage around London as well as on the band's social media pages, indicating the earliest signs of a new album.[10] On March 14, the band announced a new song titled "The Lightning I, II" would be released on March 17.[11]

On March 17, 2022, Arcade Fire announced that the album is titled We and was released on May 6, 2022. It is produced by Nigel Godrich, Win Butler, and Régine Chassagne. The album was recorded in New Orleans, El Paso, Texas, and Mount Desert Island in Maine. The cover artwork features a photograph by French artist JR with airbrush color tinting by Terry Pastor.[12] Later that week, Will Butler announced he had amicably left the band in 2021 shortly after the completion of We.[13]

After the release of the album on May 6, 2022, the band appeared on Saturday Night Live the next night, playing "Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)", "The Lightning I, II", and "End of The Empire II" over the closing credits.

Composition

Musically, We shifts "smoothly and deliberately" between "gentle" folk rock and "grooving" dance-pop.[14]

The track “Unconditional II (Race and Religion)” features backing vocals by Peter Gabriel.[15]

Release

The album was released on Dolby Atmos.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.2/10[16]
Metacritic73/100[17]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[18]
The Daily Telegraph[19]
Exclaim!7/10[14]
The Guardian[1]
The Independent[20]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[21]
NME[22]
Paste8.3/10[23]
Pitchfork7.0/10[24]
Slant Magazine[25]

We has been met with generally positive reviews from music critics. On Metacritic, it currently holds a score of 73 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews" based on 29 reviews.[17]

The album was longlisted for the 2022 Polaris Music Prize.[26]

Commercial performance

We debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 chart, earning 32,000 album-equivalent units (including 26,500 copies in pure album sales) in its first week.[2] It is Arcade Fire's fifth US top-ten debut on the chart.[2] The album also accumulated a total of 6.43 million on-demand official streams for the album's songs.[2]

Track listing

Digital track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Age of Anxiety I"5:27
2."Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)"6:41
3."Prelude"0:30
4."End of the Empire I–III"5:23
5."End of the Empire IV (Sagittarius A*)"3:54
6."The Lightning I"3:01
7."The Lightning II"2:34
8."Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)"4:33
9."Unconditional II (Race and Religion)" (featuring Peter Gabriel)4:20
10."We"3:51
Total length:40:18
CD/vinyl track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Age of Anxiety I"5:27
2."Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)" (includes "Prelude")7:11
3."End of the Empire I–IV
  • I. Last Dance
  • II. Last Round
  • III. Leave the Light On
  • IV. Sagittarius A*"
9:17
4."The Lightning I, II"5:35
5."Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)"4:33
6."Unconditional II (Race and Religion)" (featuring Peter Gabriel)4:20
7."We"3:51
Total length:40:18

Personnel

Adapted from the full album credits, with track numbers corresponding to the digital release.[27]

Charts

Chart performance for We
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[28] 11
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[29] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[30] 4
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[31] 4
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[32] 3
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[33] 19
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[34] 1
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[35] 22
French Albums (SNEP)[36] 2
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[37] 5
Irish Albums (IRMA)[38] 1
Italian Albums (FIMI)[39] 19
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[40] 20
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[41] 15
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[42] 31
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[43] 1
Scottish Albums (OCC)[44] 1
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[45] 6
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[46] 42
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[47] 2
UK Albums (OCC)[48] 1
US Billboard 200[49] 6
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[50] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[51] 1

References

  1. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (May 5, 2022). "Arcade Fire: We review – goodbye cod reggae, hello stadium singalongs". The Guardian. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Caulfield, Keith (May 15, 2022). "Bad Bunny's 'Un Verano Sin Ti' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  3. ^ "Arcade Fire Say "Work Is Flowing" on New Album". Pitchfork. April 14, 2020.
  4. ^ "All Episodes". Broken Record.
  5. ^ "Win Butler gives update on Arcade Fire album: "I think you'll be surprised"". NME. October 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "Win Butler shares more snippets of a new Arcade Fire song". NME. April 30, 2020.
  7. ^ "Win Butler hints that Arcade Fire have written "two or three" albums in quarantine". October 21, 2020.
  8. ^ Doherty, Niall (July 27, 2022). "Lost in music: Nigel Godrich". The New Cue. Retrieved July 27, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ Minsker, Evan (April 15, 2021). "Arcade Fire Share 45-Minute Song for Headspace Meditation App". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Brodsky, Rachel (March 3, 2022). "Arcade Fire Fans Receive Teaser Postcards With Music Notation". Stereogum. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  11. ^ Bloom, Madison (March 14, 2022). "Arcade Fire Releasing 'The Lightning I, II,' First New Song in 5 Years". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  12. ^ "Arcade Fire Announce New Album WE, Share Video for New Song "The Lightning I, II"". Pitchfork. March 17, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  13. ^ Corcoran, Nina (March 19, 2022). "Will Butler Says He's Left Arcade Fire". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Bobkin, Matt (May 4, 2022). "Arcade Fire Step Off Their Pedestal for 'WE'". Exclaim!. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  15. ^ Gordon, Jeremy (April 22, 2022). "How Arcade Fire Found a Way Back". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  16. ^ "WE by Arcade Fire reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  17. ^ a b "WE by Arcade Fire Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  18. ^ Yeung, Neil Z. (May 6, 2022). "WE - Arcade Fire | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  19. ^ McCormick, Neil (May 5, 2022). "Arcade Fire, WE: big ideas, grand emotions, and right up there with their best". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  20. ^ Brown, Helen (May 5, 2022). "Arcade Fire review, WE: Jittery isolation and modern love are explored in this album of two halves". The Independent. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  21. ^ Hamilton-Peach, Christopher (April 28, 2022). "All the facets of Arcade Fire's 20-year career synchronise on WE". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  22. ^ Beaumont, Mark (May 6, 2022). "Arcade Fire – 'WE' review: Canadian collective's most focussed record since 'The Suburbs'". NME. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  23. ^ Sharples, Grant (May 4, 2022). "On WE, Arcade Fire Recapture Their Former Glory". Paste. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  24. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (May 4, 2022). "Arcade Fire: WE". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  25. ^ Winograd, Jeremy (May 5, 2022). "Arcade Fire WE Review: A Half-Convincing Return to Sweeping Seriousness". Slant Magazine. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  26. ^ Allie Gregory, "Here's the 2022 Polaris Music Prize Long List". Exclaim!, June 14, 2022.
  27. ^ Minsker, Evan. "Arcade Fire Release New Album WE: Listen and Read the Full Credits". Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  28. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Arcade Fire – We". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  29. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Arcade Fire – We" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  30. ^ "Ultratop.be – Arcade Fire – We" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  31. ^ "Ultratop.be – Arcade Fire – We" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  32. ^ "Arcade Fire Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  33. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Arcade Fire – We". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  34. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Arcade Fire – We" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  35. ^ "Arcade Fire: We" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  36. ^ "Top Albums: Semaine du 13 mai 2022". SNEP. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  37. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Arcade Fire – We" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  38. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Arcade Fire". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  39. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Arcade Fire – We". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  40. ^ "Charts.nz – Arcade Fire – We". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  41. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Arcade Fire – We". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  42. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  43. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Arcade Fire – We". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  44. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  45. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – Arcade Fire – We". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  46. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Arcade Fire – We". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  47. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Arcade Fire – We". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  48. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  49. ^ "Arcade Fire Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  50. ^ "Arcade Fire Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  51. ^ "Arcade Fire Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
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