To say that Arcade Fire’s new music video for technocentric song “Electric Blue” off of their imminent fifth album “Everything Now” is garbage would be a fact in the most literal sense. The video, filmed in New Orleans in the aftermath of a Muses parade, features lead songstress Régine Chassange romping through piles of post-Mardi Gras debris as she croons silkily high notes to an addictively catchy tune.
The fourth single to be promoted in anticipation of the band’s upcoming album release on July 28th, “Electric Blue” features lyrics suggesting a post-breakup theme. Wistful lines like “Summer’s gone and so are you… cover my eyes electric blue” complement the fleeting value of Mardi Gras throws – one moment a strand of plastic beads can be a piece of treasure worth pushing aside a small child to obtain. Hours later, the streets are lined with mountains of the same such discarded junk.
Melancholic shots of trash-lined Napoleon Avenue show clean up crew workers diligently reeling in the damage as a pleather-clad Chassange floats down the neutral ground. Flashing blue cop car lights set the scene. A final drone shot pulls out to reveal a refreshed green neutral ground, not a scrap of trash remaining. Perhaps this is a hopeful message about cleaning up and moving forward from a messy relationship. Either way, New Orleanians will be tickled to see such familiar sights encapsulated in the renowned band’s artistic aesthetic.
Arcade Fire will bring their “Infinite Content” Tour to New Orleans Lakefront Arena on September 26. Until then, you can listen to “Electric Blue” along with other recently released singles “Everything Now,” “Creature Comfort,” and “Signs of Life” on Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal.
