Arcade Fire are getting a lot of hype. They are selling out gigs in record time, they're playing the big festivals, they've released their latest album, The Suburbs, and they're receiving critical acclaim from fans and reviewers alike. And now they've launched a website, after teaming up with the developers of the Google Chrome web browser, which helps you experience a visual version of the latest single, "We Used to Wait", a song which talks about the past and nostalgia. It's called The Wilderness Downtown.
The website enables you to enter an address, presumably where you once lived. Then it will load a special custom built video for you which takes you on a journey to the neighbourhood and give you a glimpse of how times once were, or as they are on Google Maps and Street View now. I tested it out, and living in Ireland, a country with has no Street View, it's not as effective, but if you select somewhere like Times Square in New York, or London, you get a real feeling of how the project operates. You'll be beamed across the sky, alongside flying birds and a running man (seen in the picture) to witness the area you selected. At the end, you're invited to write a postcard (as they did to announce their album) for your younger self, which is later added to the experience.
It's a big step by Arcade Fire, who've decided not to moan and give out about the internet "crippling the music industry", but harness the technology and experience for users so that they can truly embrace the song and see it for themselves, in video, words and pictures. Personally, I don't want to say how the site works very much, as it'll ruin the initial moment of awe as you use it. All you can do is view it for yourself.
Arcade Fire play The O2 in Dublin on December 5th and 6th.
http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/
