The Arcade Fire Keep Us Pumped

Eclectic Montreal rockers The Arcade Fire have released more details about their eagerly awaited second album, "Neon Bible," due March 6 (in the U.S.) via Merge. And as to be expected with these guys, the news arrives in an unorthodox way - via this YouTube clip:


Meanwhile, the brand-spankin' new single from "Neon Bible" has been unearthed and is available for your listening pleasure via the official Arcade Fire site:

Win has posted the first OFFICIAL single from Neon Bible over on arcadefire.com. To listen to it, click on Win's Scrapbook, then click on the image and it will load up and play.

"Intervention," the hyped first glimpse we got of the new album, is now for sale at iTunes with all proceeds benefiting Partners In Health (also linked to from the Arcade Fire homepage).

The tracklist for "Neon Bible" is as follows (via Billboard):

1. Black Mirror
2. Keep The Car Running
3. Neon Bible
4. Intervention
5. Black Wave / Bad Vibrations
6. Ocean of Noise
7. The Well & The Lighthouse
8. (Antichrist Television Blues)
9. Windowsill
10. No Cars Go
11. My Body Is A Cage

Billboard also gives us more goodies as we anxiously await the release date:

...The 11-track set was primarily recorded in a church outside the band's Montreal homebase and features contributions from Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett, Calexico's Martin Wenk and Jacob Valenzuela and Wolf Parade's Hadjii Bakara.

...Additional highlights include the sweet, solemn ballad "Ocean of Noise" ("who here among us still believes in choice / not I," Butler sings), the propulsive, major-key rockers "Keep the Car Running" and "The Well and the Lighthouse" and the hardscrabble "(Antichrist Television Blues)," where Butler's passionate phrasing recalls the Bruce Springsteen of "Born To Run."

Butler and Chassagne's vocal interplay is at the heart of "No Cars Go," another driving cut that shows clear evolution from the band's 2004 breakthrough, "Funeral." The song climaxes with a swell of choir and orchestra.

The group will be busy on the road for the next several months, but you're SOL if you were hoping to catch the 5 night NYC run at Judson Memorial Church. While we all devoutly pray for the live preaching of the "Neon Bible," you can tide yourself over on the three available tracks from the album (via The Hype Machine):

Black Mirror

Black Wave/Bad Vibrations

Intervention

This is also one of my most anticipated of the year. What is your favorite of the new songs that are currently available?