Maybe Arcade Fire’s new song “Creature Comfort,†the second single from from their upcoming album Everything Now, is supposed to be an empowering anthem for the nameless boys and girls at risk of taking their own lives. It’s certainly directed at them: “Assisted suicide she dreams about dying all the time / she told me she came so close / filled up the bathtub and put on our first record,†Win Butler sings, presumably to a fan meant to represent all the band’s fans who could be in trouble. But there’s little comfort to be had — aside from the repeated wish to “just make it painless†— among the song’s fragmented narratives about kids tormented by societal pressures to be beautiful and famous. So, here’s a tip for listening: Try to tune out the words, even though they’re scrolling at the top and bottom of the video, and get lost in Portishead’s Geoff Barrow doing a mean Talking Heads impression on the song’s shimmering production.
Arcade Fire’s New Song ‘Creature Comfort’ Isn’t All That Comforting
