Arcade Fire opted to precede this release with a fake e-commerce platform (unsurprisingly, the same title as its record, Everything Now), all of which spins on notions of consumer choice and media homogenisation.
It raises the suspicion that the band actually intended its songs to sound bland.
Take the smooth 1980s electronic disco of Signs of Life, which talks of "cool kids stuck in the past"; or Creature Comfort, possibly the shiny aural equivalent of shoulder pads.
Heavy on the irony, lyrically and musically, Everything Now ultimately fails to stir any emotion.
• Arcade Fire. Everything Now. Sony Music.
• Two and a half stars (out of five)
Single download: Peter Pan
For those who like: Yazoo
— Shane Gilchrist
