Arcade Fire Release Two New Songs, Announce August LP 'The Suburbs'

Arcade Fire revealed on their official website today that they will release their third album The Suburbs on August 3rd, giving fans just three days to familiarize themselves with the material before the Montreal collective's headlining set at this year's Lollapalooza. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Arcade Fire had posted half-minute snippets of the album's title track and "Month of May," but with the limited-edition 12" single now out in select record stores, both songs are available for purchase on their site.

"We're pretty much done with our new album," Arcade Fire wrote in a handwritten letter that appears on their site. "The homestretch!" (The album is available for pre-order in a variety of formats.) The band has also posted the lyrics to "The Suburbs" in a "click and drag" style that resembles refrigerator magnets. Expect a new music video to pop up soon. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Arcade Fire and director Spike Jonze recently collaborated on a short film inspired by the album's title track. Filmed in Austin, Texas last month, the short film reportedly revolves around a cast of teenagers in a story of "friends growing apart," which seems to echo the theme and lyrics of "The Suburbs."

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
• 
  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter