Arcade Fire have spoken to ClashMusic about the sense of teenage rebellion which drives their new album 'The Suburbs'.
A sense of being trapped. The need to escape. The stifling, sterile atmosphere of small town life. Arcade Fire draw on all these sentiments and more for their massively successful third album 'The Suburbs'.
An epic album, 'The Suburbs' ends a three year period of silence from the band. Drawing on feelings of adolescence for inspiration, Arcade Fire have completed an album which is as welcome as it is unexpected.
Now an established act, Arcade Fire have decided to draw on their teenage years - something most groups get out of their system on their debut album.
"I think a lot of artists spend their whole career writing about the same ideas. Francis Ford Coppola keeps looking at the same things in every movie he makes. Bruce Springsteen is singing about the same thing in every record he makes" said Win Butler.
"I don’t know why that is. I think you’re drawn to the subject matter you’re drawn to. A lot of times, as you change, you approach it from a different perspective and get different insights. I think that’s what we’ve done here."
Multi-instrumentalist Reginne Chassagne explained that she doesn't analyse the band's work. "I don’t analyse things. It just came out like that. It’s not something that you plan. The album is not one judgement on the suburbs. It’s more cinematic, like scenes around the suburbs."
"Do I think it would have been a different album if we’d made it when we were teenagers? Of course, but you could go on and on like that. What if I had blonde hair or lived in Paris?"
What if...
Arcade Fire are set to open their British tour in December.