Credit: JF LalondeAs they gear up for the release of their documentary film The Reflektor Tapes, Arcade Fire has also begun working on their fifth album. Multi-instrumentalist Will Butler tells NME that the band is "itching to play music together and start recording things."
"We're basically in the demo and play together phase," he continues. "Historically that's led to realizing that, surprisingly, we're 30 per cent into a record, so we'll see if that happens."
Arcade Fire's last album was 2013's Reflektor, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
"It's a bit different this time because everyone's older and fatter and lazier, so it might take longer, but we're playing music together," Butler says. "[Frontman] Win [Butler] and [vocalist/multi-instrumentalist] Regine [Chassagne] got a place in New Orleans so I think we'll spend some time there, because why wouldn't you? But apart from that we're in the old HQ [in Montreal]."
As for what the new album will sound like, Butler says the band hasn't recorded enough yet to know what direction it will take, but he does have some ideas.
"I got a couple of new synths that I'm excited by and I like the sound of them," he says. "So, for me, that'll really influence the direction of the record but I don't know if anyone else will notice."
The Reflektor Tapes, which documents Arcade Fire's tour in support of Reflektor, will hit theaters September 23. A deluxe edition of Reflektor, featuring five never-before-released songs, will be released digitally on September 25.
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