Arcade Fire Tell Fans to Expect 12" Release in Coming Weeks

Arcade Fire delivered a handwritten note via the Web yesterday announcing good news for fans patiently awaiting the follow-up to 2007's Neon Bible. The short missive, addressed to "The Internet," reads simply, "Howdy yall — Just finishing up pressing our 12". Should be in stores in the next couple weeks, God willing. Good luck with finals, see you this Summer! AF." The faded postcard on the Arcade Fire site features a photo of the Montreal collective silhouetted in front of a pair of suburban homes, which further plays into the rumored "suburb" theme of their upcoming album.

No specifics about the 12" were revealed — and since both albums and singles are pressed on 12" vinyl, fans can't be sure what to expect from the mysterious Win Butler — but according to an Amazon preorder page, Arcade Fire will release a new single called "Suburbs," backed by another new track titled "Month of May," on June 1st. The band has yet to confirm that release.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Arcade Fire and director Spike Jonze recently teamed up for a short film about teenage friends growing apart. An unspecified track off the third Arcade Fire album will likely provide the backdrop for the video, which was shot in Austin. Arcade Fire have also begun mapping out their summer plans with a dozen concert dates, but so far only one U.S. show: A headlining slot at this year's Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago on August 8th.

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Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

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