Will ButlerPhoto: Jason Oxenham (Getty Images)
It’s been a big week for indie rock veterans Arcade Fire: earlier this week, the band announced the end of WE, their first album since 2017’s Everything Now hit critical controversy. Now Will Butler – one of the oldest members of the band and brother of founder and frontman Vin Butler – has announced that he is leaving the band after 18 years together.
Butler announced his departure on Twitter this afternoon, noting that he actually left the band at the end of last year after finishing work on WE. He also spoke positively of both his former band members and the band’s fans, writing that “the band is still my friends and family.” (Which, again, is literal: in addition to her brother, Arcade Fire member Regine Alexandra Chassan is Butler’s sister-in-law.)
Butler joined the band shortly after its inception, serving as a multi-instrumentalist and writer on every release since their debut album Funeral. The nature of Arcade Fire’s often eclectic sound made him hop freely around the orchestra, but he was most often seen playing synthesizer and bass. In addition to his work with the band, Butler has released three solo albums; the most recent, Generations, came out in 2020.
The news of Butler’s departure from the band comes just as the band is gearing up for a sold-out public performance at New York’s Bowery Ballroom. (The band also just released the first single from WE called “The Lightning I, II”.)
In a tweet, Will Butler stated that the parting with Arcade Fire was amicable. “I left at the end of last year,” he wrote, “after the new album was ready. There was no compelling reason other than that I had changed – and the band had changed – in the last almost 20 years. Time for new things.” He stressed that he will continue to work on the charity projects he started during his time with the band and expressed plans to start working on a new album soon.