Arcade Fire: "Funeral" (Album Review)

Genres: Indie Rock, Chamber Pop, Art Pop

With Arcade Fire’s first studio album, Funeral, the audience is brought alongside a journey of growth and maturation. The making of this record was, in part, spurned on by loss, as several band members experienced the loss of a family member during the creation of the album. This sense of loss is clearly felt across the tracks here, but there is more than just that. Loss plays a huge role in the context of the album, but there is also expansion beyond this loss and having to bravely move onward.

If I had to pick two words to describe Funeral, they would be “emotionally charged”. It is truly a journey, which evokes a plethora of emotions in the listener. There are moments of hope, heartbreak, love, grief, and more which are almost tangible through how real they feel. This is an album that expresses itself through beautiful and glorious displays, but is also subdued and intimate as well. The grand nature of Funeral can be seen through magnificent orchestral scenes, such as on “Crown of Love”, but these instances only highlight the small and human essence of the album. Portraits of life and emotions are depicted so loudly and boldly that it makes resonating with the broadcasted information easy.

The concept of maturation is tackled expertly, and beautifully grows throughout Funeral. “Wake Up” is a beautiful cry of awareness to the societal propaganda forced on children that ends up corrupting them. It’s a call to wake up to avoid how “our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up”. This is followed up on “Rebellion (Lies)”, which depicts a childlike rebellion against conforming to society by blindly following the lies presented to you. The culmination of all of this is through “In the Backseat”. This shows another side of forced maturation, as Régine Chassagne sings about having to take control after the death of her mother, figuratively being moved from the backseat to the position of the driver. The pain of having to let go of your innocence and youthful sense of peace is depicted in such a beautiful metaphor. The transition between the states of living freely as a child and a nostalgia-filled hardened adult looking back at these times, are done so seamlessly, that it makes you wonder about what the differences between the two are.

Sparks of lightning can be felt all over Funeral, being a truly hair-raising and electrifying record. Arcade Fire’s strength lies in creating moments that hold heavy emotional weight, and are awe-inspiring in how powerful they are. Funeral is definitely not without a shortage of these moments, with each song perfectly tying into each other thematically. Listening to this album from beginning to end made me feel like I was also going on a journey of self-discovery. This sense of reflection is real and as someone in their teens it gave me quite a lot to think about. At times Funeral was a voice that took the thoughts I had and spoke them out loud. At other times Funeral was an earpiece for me, and turned into words of advice that I listened to and took to heart. During all points, it was an experience that had a strong and positive impact on my life.

Favorite Tracks: In the Backseat, Crown of Love, Une Année Sans Lumière, Neighborhood #2 (Laïka), Wake Up, Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)

 

Least Favorites: n/a

Enjoyment: 10

Critically: 10

Arbitrary Number: 10/10