Speaking In Tongues
In case you had forgotten, it was almost exactly a year ago when Arcade Fire started secretly dropping 12″ vinyl singles in record stores around the world. That was “The Suburbs”/”Month Of May,” and served as the starting point for what would later become the year of Arcade Fire. With the release of The Suburbs, the band began to dominate record sales charts, headline festivals, win Grammys (much to the chagrin of America), and generally rise to a level of fame and accomplishment not often associated with independent artists.
Now the band is all set for the victory lap. On June 27, Merge will be reissuing a repackaged version, complete with a Spike Jonze-directed short film entitled “Scenes from the Suburbs,” and two new songs – “Speaking In Tongues” and “Culture War.”
Both tracks are B-sides in title only, and would feel right at home on The Suburbs. “Speaking In Tongues” in particular nests itself somewhere between “Suburban War” and “We Used To Wait,” drawing out short clips of repeating guitar and the low rumble of a cello. Add to that David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame), jumping in around the halfway point to yelp and squawk and drive the theme of speaking in tongues home. The track exhibits nearly every great sound found on The Suburbs, and does so without requiring the rest of the album to guide it.
+MP3: Arcade Fire – Speaking In Tongues
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Leave a Reply