Arcade Fire’s “Electric Blue” Brings Back Pleasant Memories of Their “Sprawl II”
“Electric Blue,” the latest dispatch from Arcade Fire’s forthcoming album Everything Now, features Régine Chassagne singing in swaggering falsetto over taut, funky drums and big sticky globs of synthesized bass. It’s catchy and lighthearted in an appealing way, and it might make you think of Spoon’s recent forays toward dance music, or the David Bowie art-pop classic from which it sorta cribs its title. Most of all, though, it will probably make you think of a gem from Arcade Fire’s own recent history: “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains),” Chassagne’s Blondie-homage disco anthem from The Suburbs.
This is a good thing, as “Sprawl II” is one of the strongest singles in Arcade Fire’s catalog. At the time of its release, the song’s synths and steady rhythmic chug made it something of an anomaly for Arcade Fire, but after the sprightly-but-inconsistent Reflektor and the strong run of…