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Formed and fronted by the French-Canadian singer-songwriter team of Win Butler and Regine Chassagne in Montreal in 2001, Arcade Fire mixed and matched instrumentalists over the course of its existence with new members joining on certain tours. The band fused its unique sound together for the release of a self-financed debut EP, before US indie label Merge signed them up. Their debut album, 2004’s Funeral, met with universal acclaim, although British fans had to wait another year before its release in the UK. The album was a blend of almost mystical lyricism and multi-instrumental sound, and spawned hit singles “Rebellion (Lies)” and “Wake Up”. The group spent the next few years working on their second album in a converted church in Quebec. The resulting LP, 2007’s Neon Bible, premiered at number 2 on the US Billboard top 200 and in the UK Top 40. The album spawned the single “Black Mirror” in 2007 and was followed by 2010’s The Suburbs which was released in the second half of 2010 and won the Album of the Year Grammy. They took home two BRIT awards in 2011, Best International Group and Best International Album. 2013’s Reflektor featured backing vocals to the title track provided by David Bowie. The album won the 2014 Juno Awards for Album of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year. The 2017 single “I Give You Power” was released in January 2017 to coincide with the inauguration of President Donald Trump, and they followed this with “Everything Now”, the lead single off their new album of the same name. The single reached number 1 on the Billboard Chart for Adult Alternative Songs. Win Butler claimed that during the COVID-19 pandemic he had written multiple albums worth of material. However, in 2021 they went into their vault and officially released Her, the soundtrack to the 2013 Spike Jonze film they composed and performed with Owen Pallett. The fruits of their songwriting labour emerged in 2022 via celebrated sixth album We, which, despite dealing with themes relating to isolation and the "age of anxiety", was in fact written prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. We went to number six on the US Billboard 200 chart and is the band's final album to feature multi-instrumentalist and younger brother of Win, Will Butler, who left in 2021.
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