ARCADE FIRE announce sixth studio album ‘WE’ – Watch video for first single ‘The Lightning I, II’

ARCADE FIRE announce sixth studio album 'WE' - Watch video for first single 'The Lightning I, II' 2
Photo credit: Michael Marcelle

WE, the eagerly anticipated sixth studio album by Arcade Fire, has been confirmed for a 6th May, 2022 release via Columbia Records. WE’s arrival is preceded by first single “The Lightning I, II,” available now across digital platforms – and as a video directed by Emily Kai Bock.

Produced by Nigel Godrich, Win & Régine, and recorded in multiple locales including New Orleans, El Paso and Mount Desert Island, WE paradoxically distills “the longest we’ve ever spent writing, uninterrupted, probably ever” (per the band’s Win Butler) into a concise 40 minute epic – one 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. WE’s cathartic journey follows a definable arc from darkness into light over the course of seven songs divided into two distinct sides — Side “I” channeling the fear and loneliness of isolation, and Side “WE” expressing the joy and power of reconnection:

“I”

Age of Anxiety I
Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)
End of the Empire I-IV

“WE”

The Lightning I, II
Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)
Unconditional II (Race and Religion)
WE

Watch the video for ‘The Lightning I, II’ – BELOW:

On the album’s cover, a photograph of a human eye by the artist JR evokes Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. The image – embellished by the distinctive airbrush color tinting of Terry Pastor (utilizing the same physical technique he employed on David Bowie’s iconic Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust covers) – is the visual expression of WE.

ARCADE FIRE

Arcade Fire is: Régine Chassagne, Win Butler, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Jeremy Gara, & Will Butler.

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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