Arcade Fire

“Who are Arcade Fire?” was the burning question when the Canadian collective won the Grammy for Album of the Year for 2010’s The Suburbs over pop superstars including Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. But that year’s biggest underdogs had already been not-so-quietly revolutionising indie rock for over half a decade with sweeping anthems that confront death and dissonance while affirming life. Formed by husband-and-wife multi-instrumentalists Win Butler and Régine Chassagne in 2001, the band rose out of Montreal’s blossoming indie scene, expanding their lineup—and instrument arsenal—to brew up an ecstatic mix of art-pop, post-punk, heartland rock and classical elements. Their 2004 debut album, Funeral, distils all those sounds into a visceral and devastatingly beautiful collection packed with epics like the heart-swelling “Wake Up”. It earned them a Grammy nomination, notable co-signs from David Bowie and David Byrne, and a growing global fan base. But it also left them restless—a trait that’s ultimately steered their ever-evolving experimentation. On 2007’s Neon Bible, they tackle corrupted faith and doomsday bombast with a full choir and orchestra. On the aforementioned The Suburbs, they spin sweet nostalgia and modern malaise into baroque-pop tales as expansive as the urban sprawl they both despise and idealise. Into the 2010s, they began channelling digital-age anxiety through Haitian rara, dub and synth-pop, while recruiting help from producers including LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy on 2013’s dance-rock-infused double-album, Reflektor, and Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter for 2017’s disco fever dream, Everything Now. The only thing to expect next from Arcade Fire is the unexpected. “I still feel like I have so much to prove,” Butler told Apple Music in 2020. “If we don’t make the best thing we can make, then none of what we’ve done before matters.”