Burgeoning Canadian superstars ARCADE FIRE have been picking up plaudits at an alarming rate since their debut album "Funeral" arrived. The wake surrounding that actually rather less than sombre event attracted some very high profile friends and in recent times, Win Butler's charges have been personally invited to support the likes of David Bowie and Franz Ferdinand. Neither of which will exactly harm the ol' CV.
And, while your reviewer has only really discovered them in the aftermath of the adulation, so to speak, he can certainly understand the hyperbole where "Wake Up" is concerned. Because, put simply, this is just HUGE. It skirts around what you might describe as 'orchestral flourishes', features vocals from Win Butler that veer from plaintive to positively unhinged and shares a romanticism with The Dears that must be down to something they're putting in the water in Montreal.
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The Bowie connection is easy to source, too, as AF have clearly spun "Diamond Dogs" a good few times down the years, but they're also au fait with the Thin White Duke's 'Iggy' years too, as "Wake Up" craftily borrows the backbeat from the Igster's "Lust For Life" come the four-minute mark. It's an inspired act of theft, though, and ultimately, "Wake Up" is a fascinating kaleidoscopic melange of a pop song which no doubt ensures that if Arcade Fire arrived bearing a "Funeral", then their next record will surely be a glorious "Resurrection".
Hope the cheque's in the post for that one, folks.
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