ART-ROCK
Chris Roberts samples the new releases on the prog/rock boundary .
It may, until now, have been tough to make a case that Arcade Fire were a prog band, although one could have convincingly enlisted them under art-rock’s banner. As Peter Gabriel brings his soft, weathered croon to Unconditional 2 (Race And Religion) on their sixth album We (Columbia), it’s hard to argue that the Canadians weren’t prog. This is a riotously eclectic record, presenti ng multiple-section songs in suites and flinging out concepts up the wazoo. The received narrative is that 2017’s Everything Now was a misstep, and this returns to their comfort zone. That’s bunk. It’s every bit as berserk as its predecessor and, inspired by a Russian dystopian novel, tracks like Age Of Anxiety and End Of The Empire display a genuine attempt to capture the frenzied crackle of our times.