You can almost sense the excitement out there. Not only have Arcade Fire confirmed that they’re to play the somewhat snug environs (well, by their standards) of the Scunthorpe Bath Halls on June 7, they’ve only gone an added another intimate show – this time at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange on June 8.
As previously reported on Gigwise, the gigs are acting as a warm up to the Isle Of Wight Festival headline slot on June 10. But what’s really of interest is the prospect of hearing new material from the band.
It’s now almost four years since the release of the band’s last album, Reflektor, so you’d think that they’d have pulled their fingers out and got down to the serious business of doing their do. Well, reports from their homeland of Canada would suggest that this is indeed so.
The Montreal Gazette reported that Arcade Fire played a top-secret show in Montreal last Saturday night. Playing to approximately 50 guests, the band played for over an hour and among material from Reflektor and The Suburbs, Arcade Fire previewed six new songs. Alas, no footage or sneak previews of the tracks exist because the attendees had to leave their phones at the door. It’s a shame that Donald Trump wasn’t there – doubtless the new material would’ve been all over the Russian media by now.
Speaking to NME earlier this year, drummer Jeremy Gara said: “All of [the songs] have been recorded. The album should come out this year. At this stage we are still mixing and trying to decide which songs will end up on the record, because we’ve recorded more than we need. But we’re almost finished. I don’t know when it’ll come out, I hope soon.”
But that new material? According to one the Montreal gig’s attendees, we can expect more pop and electronica influences in the vein of Reflektor. So you’re probably going to need to clear an afternoon to listen to that in one go.
