How do you come back from a supposedly misunderstood, criticized album? By doing what you’re best known for: releasing a ringing, vaguely emotional six-minute indie rock anthem (and not playing at a Las Vegas cryptocurrency party, that’s for sure). If anything, that’s what the indie-stalwart Arcade Fire did for the band’s big comeback following the failure of Everything Now in 2017. The band’s new single that’s finally out is called “The Lightning I, II” and it’s pretty good! Sure, it takes a second, and it’s not “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”, but it quenches the thirst for powerful singing that this band has been doing since “Wake Up” in 2004. “We can make it if you don’t leave me,” sings Win Butler – so if you didn’t leave the band after “Everything Now,” consider this your reward! “The Lightning I, II” (also titled Arcade Fire AF) is the first taste of WE’s upcoming album, which will be released on May 6 and which, according to a press release, is “as much about the forces that threaten to alienate us from the people whom we love as it is inspired by the urgent need to overcome them.” As long as it doesn’t involve fake album reviews and crappy post tricks, we’ll accept that.
