Arcade Fire Announce New Album ‘WE’; Share First Taste With “The Lightning I, II” Video

WE, the eagerly anticipated sixth studio album by Arcade Fire, has been confirmed for a May 6, 2022 release via Columbia Records.

WE’s arrival is preceded by first single “The Lightning I, II,” available now across digital platforms – and as a video directed by Emily Kai Bock.

According to a press release:

The album was recorded in multiple locations, including New Orleans, El Paso, and Mount Desert Island and was produced by Nigel Godrich.

WE paradoxically distills “the longest we’ve ever spent writing, uninterrupted, probably ever” (per the band’s Win Butler) into a concise 40 minute epic – one as much about the forces that threaten to pull us away from the people we love, as it is inspired by the urgent need to overcome them. WE’s cathartic journey follows a definable arc from darkness into light over the course of seven songs divided into two distinct sides — Side “I” channeling the fear and loneliness of isolation, and Side “WE” expressing the joy and power of reconnection:

“I”

Age of Anxiety I

Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)

End of the Empire I-IV

“WE”

The Lightning I, II

Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)

Unconditional II (Race and Religion)

On the album’s cover, a photograph of a human eye by the artist JR evokes Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. This stunning image — embellished by the distinctive airbrush colour tinting of Terry Pastor (utilizing the same physical technique he employed on David Bowie’s iconic Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust covers) – is the visual expression of WE.

Watch the black and white music video below, and read an accompanying note from the band just past: