The Melodrama of Land-Use Planning

I'm still coming around to The Suburbs, Arcade Fire's new album. It hasn't struck me with its brilliance the way Funeral or Neon Bible did on my first listen. Maybe it is "the best kind of slow burn?" I haven't listened to it enough to say.

Like its predecessors, The Suburbs is another introspective examination (and sometimes indictment, no matter what Win Butler says) of modern culture, full of the bombastic, baroque anthems Arcade Fire is known for and a few songs that slow the pace of the album. "Sprawl (Flatland),"one of the songs that have really stood out to me so far, is a strange and spooky song that belongs to the latter category:

["Sprawl (Flatland) - Arcade Fire"]

"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" is a bit uncharacteristically bouncy for them, but still explores the same themes of decay and listlessness as the other songs on the album. Just in a somewhat more positive, forward-looking way.

And is it just me, or does this sound kind of like a New Wave pop song to anyone else?

["Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" - Arcade Fire]

ETA: This is really cool.

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