Arcade Fire‘s seventh studio album is on its way, with the band announcing that new LP Pink Elephant is set to arrive this spring and dropping lead single “Year of the Snake” Tuesday (April 8).
Featuring 10 tracks recorded at married bandmates Win Butler and Régine Chassagne’s Good News Recording Studio in New Orleans, the project is described as a “cinematic, mystical punk” offering that “invites the listener on a sonic odyssey” exploring themes of light, darkness, inner beauty and “the perception of the individual.” The album’s title apparently refers to the paradox of actively trying to suppress a certain thought, and in doing so, making that thought impossible not to think about.
As shared in a post on Arcade Fire’s Instagram, Pink Elephant will arrive May 9. The band also unveiled its cover art: a photo of a small elephant-shaped candle burning against a hot pink backdrop.
Fans’ first taste of the album via “Year of the Snake” is chill, contemplative alt-rock, with Butler and Chassagne singing together over a thrumming bass line and anthemic glimmers, “It’s the season of change, and if you you feel strange, it’s probably good.” The song comes third on a tracklist that also includes the titles “Open Your Heart or Die Trying,” “Pink Elephant,” “Circle of Trust,” “Alien Nation,” “Beyond Salvation,” “Ride or Die,” “I Love Her Shadow,” “She Cries Diamond Rain” and “Stuck in My Head.”
Pink Elephant will mark Arcade Fire’s first LP since 2022’s We, which reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and climbed to the summit of the Top Rock Albums chart. It’ll also be the band’s first release since Butler was accused by multiple former fans of sexual misconduct, after which the frontman released a statement denying that any part of his relationships with those women was nonconsensual — though he did also apologize to “anyone who I have hurt with my behavior.”
A few days prior to the album announcement, Arcade Fire also rolled out a new app called Circle of Trust, where fans can now access special content including music, videos, early access to tickets, exclusive merch and more. This week, the band shared exclusive song “Cars and Telephones” — billed as the first composition Butler ever played for Chassagne — on the app.
See the Pink Elephant album cover and listen to “Year of the Snake” below.
