ARCADE FIRE | FUNERAL
Funeral was one of the biggest independent breakthrough albums of the 2000’s. It came with high praise from tastemakers and quickly made its way to essential indie credibility. Funeral was the soundtrack to the mid aughts and the antiquity in its worn in tones felt like a relic from a lost time.
The album is a tender and mournful celebration of youth, friends, neighbours, dancing, and most importantly death. The music is urgent and unpolished, like wooden floors creaking under the weight of dress shoes worn by funeral home attendees. The songs provided anthems of military proportion to a generation that wasn’t sure who it was, or where it was going. It was about marching forward and going nowhere.
Win Butler and his wife Regine soar and roar over orchestra drums, piano plunks, accordions, and guitar feedback. The opening track sets a pace that sends a call to arms for people to rally in the streets and come together just to overcome the winter ice storms. The drums often lean towards disco beats making the music seemingly danceable, but in reality barely danceable. Butler’s voice is constantly nervous but still full of melody.
“Neighbourhood # 3” storms in with a stomping charm. It’s an energetic high-point to the album re-inforced by the guitar riff spiralling up and down the scale helping the band get to the next point of drama. “Crown Of Love” warbles through like a lost Italian ballad from the 1950’s, updated with the more self-deprecating lyrics “I carved your name across my eyelids.” The alarm call of “Wake Up’ sent shivers down David Bowies spine as he declared his love of the band and appeared on stage to perform the track. As the choir sings the”oh oh oh oh’s” we feel life-affirming hope to rise above the darkness and overcome the pain of death. After an exhausting journey, the album climax as Butler screams “I’ll guess we’ll just have to adjust!”
The artwork depicting a scrawling quill with foliage growing from its feathers feels antique and projects outward the inner honesty and warm radiating within the music. It perfectly compliments the sentiment of the album. The entire thing is a glorious affair and one that is still considered one of the greatest albums of all time.
Crown Of Love
2 oz cognac
2 tsp marsala
1/2 oz Cynar liquor
1 tbl chocolate liquor
1 tsp drambuie
*Stir all the ingredients in a mixing glass and strain into a rocks glass over a large piece of ice. Garnish with a stat anise.