How do you come back from an allegedly misunderstood, critically panned album? By doing the sort of thing you’re best known for: releasing a jangly, vaguely emotional six-minute indie-rock anthem (and not by playing a cryptocurrency party in Las Vegas, that’s for sure). That’s what indie stalwarts Arcade Fire did, anyway, for the band’s big return after the failure of Everything Now in 2017. The group’s new single, finally out, is called “The Lightning I, II,†and it’s pretty good! Sure, it takes a second to pick up and it’s no “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains),†but it scratches that itch for a huge sing-along moment that this band has consistently delivered since “Wake Up†in 2004. “We can make it if you don’t quit on me,†Win Butler sings — so if you didn’t quit on the band after Everything Now, consider this your reward! “The Lightning I, II†(with an Arcade Fire AF title, too) is the first taste of the upcoming album WE, out on May 6, that a press release says is “as much about the forces that threaten to pull us away from the people we love, as it is inspired by the urgent need to overcome them.†As long as it doesn’t involve more fake-album reviews and shitposting stunts, we’ll take it.
Arcade Fire Strike Back With New Song ‘The Lightning I, II’
