New Arcade Fire Album Gets Release Date and “Epic” Seal from James Murphy

It’s been almost three years since Arcade Fire released The Suburbs, to critical acclaim, headlining gigs and their first Grammy for Album of the Year (amidst the now-commonplace Twitter cries of “who are Arcade Fire??”). News has been trickling in about their follow-up fourth album, still unnamed but with a release date of October 29th, and James Murphy, who features as something of a consultant on the record, has begun to break his silence on the matter.

But, he is quick to say, that doesn’t mean the album is finished. The Canadian collective, according to the former LCD Soundsystem frontman, is never finished with a record until it is on shelves and in stores. They serve as their own producers (hence Murphy’s role suggesting “different approaches or ways of fine-tuning the material”) and the “whole complement of people” involved are constantly bringing new ideas and songs to the table. Including, Murphy adds, singer Régine Chassagne who was in the studio, weighing in on the recording process, for as long as her pregnancy would let her.

Finished or not, Murphy has nothing but positive predictions for the album, noting “It sounds like Arcade Fire in the way that only Arcade Fire sound like Arcade Fire, you know? It’s really fucking epic.”