Arcade Fire: Neon Bible.

Right, here's a review I wrote for Arcade Fire's new(ish) album while I try to think off something to write. I've handed in my notice at work and it's difficult trying to think straight without breaking things.

Sometimes a band comes along who changes your outlook on music and makes you appreciate sound in a way you never thought possible. Arcade Fire is this band.

After mistakenly hearing Neighbourhood #1, I immediately secured myself a copy of Funeral. Before I knew it I was dancing along with instruments I’d never heard of, and singing along with lyrics I never understood. Like a cross between David Bowie and a drunken School band, they made me love music I, again, never even knew I liked.

It quickly became apparent that here we had a group of unhinged geniuses teetering on the precipice of musical ambiguity. Like some multi-instrumentalist Blofeld with a demented plan of world domination, they came hard, and they came fast.

With unapologetic bravado, they bashed critics over the head with an antique organ and rightfully gained plaudits for their majestic, grandiose and intimidating first album.

Now, with their sophomore album, Neon Bible, Arcade Fire tackle the thematic idea of religion in the same way Funeral took on the nostalgic tendencies of Life and Death. And, in much the same way, they have produced a coherent, cohesive work of absolute brilliance.

Moving from track to track, the album seems like one idiosyncratic piece of work rather than a loose assemblage of fragmented musings. At times, the multifarious assortment of instruments can make many of the tracks seem a little over-produced, but with a large band comes huge artistic input – and maybe this is to be expected but bearing this in mind, never does it become tired or clichéd.

The songs are consistently fresh and the experience visceral. When listened to whilst driving a Cadillac through the American Bible Belt at sunrise, or during a tired winter evening on your couch, the visionary ambition of this album cannot be denied.

Here’s to musical eccentricity. Here’s to Arcade Fire.