It’s easy to get beguiled by illusions of narrative. Everyone did with Arcade Fire, especially back when everyone still used the definite article in their name (“The” Arcade Fire sounds so damn emo, doesn’t it?). Their baroque whimsy, especially around Funeral, offered a certain narrative of love and marriage through duress that we found charming. Thus, we all conveniently missed the fact that their two leads come from families that are big names in the oil and gas industries, that they are rich folks that were never truly stressed. Such a narrative eventually fades, and what we’re left with is the reality: Another corporate product.
Any remaining illusions we had with Arcade Fire are most certainly gone with Everything Now, their newest full-length album-tisement, out now “on streaming” and on July 25 “in physical media.” According to the PR copy we received from this, it is…
Arcade Fire’s first release under its new partnership with the global media and e-commerce platform Everything Now in synergy with the Sony Corporation.
Did you understand any of that? Me neither! It makes it sound like they’re a company rather than, you know, a band. Or maybe it’s some branding thing? I understand the need for bands to earn money and all that, but something tells me there isn’t really…a group of musicians behind this (“groups of musicians” just sound so damn emo, don’t they?). It seems more like a bunch of marketers projecting some “narrative,” except there really isn’t a narrative left to speak of any more. It’s just: “we want your money.” I mean, doesn’t the phrase “Everything Now” make a little more sense when you think about it like that?
And it shows: the album’s physical release will appear in 20 collectible variants, which is little more than the album title in 20 different languages. I’m assuming three of them are “Tudo Agora,” “Todo Ahora,” and “Tout Maintenant.” (There, I saved you money, diehard fans!)
Interestingly, alongside info for their Infinite Content tour (which you’ll see below, following the video for the titular single) the only other detail about this album worth noting from our PR copy is that the band produced this with Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter and Steve Mackey. But then again…maybe this isn’t about the music after all.
Infinite Content Marketing:
09.05.17 – Quebec City, QC – Centre Videotron
09.06.17 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
09.09.17 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre
09.12.17 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
09.12.17 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
09.15.17 – Washington, DC – Verizon Center
09.17.17 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
09.21.17 – Atlanta, GA – Infinite Energy Arena
09.22.17 – Tampa, FL – USF Sun Dome
09.23.17 – Miami, FL – Watsco Center at the University of Miami
09.26.17 – New Orleans, LA – UNO Lakefront Arena
09.27.17 – Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center
09.28.17 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
10.11.17 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
10.12.17 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
10.14.17 – Vancouver, BC – Pacific Coliseum
10.15.17 – Seattle, WA – Key Arena
10.17.17 – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
10.18.17 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
10.20.17 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
10.22.17 – Las Vegas, NV – Mandalay Bay Events Center
10.25.17 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
10.27.17 – Kansas City, MO – Silverstein Eye Centers Arena
10.29.17 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
11.01.17 – Windsor, ON – Windsor Credit Family Union Centre
11.03.17 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
More about: Arcade Fire
