Arcade Fire's 'Funeral' at 20

By Raina Douris,

Published September 17, 2024 at 9:03 AM EDT

When Merge Records released Arcade Fire's debut album, Funeral, on Sept. 14, 2004, nothing else sounded quite like it. With ramshackle, frenetic arrangements, thrift-store instrumentation and madcap performances, the sprawling group of twentysomethings delivered a portrait of grief and existential dread as euphoria. It was a surprisingly affecting approach that came at a time when guitars dominated the indie rock landscape. It was also earnest and serious, offering the kind of heartfelt uplift listeners were ready to receive in a 9/11 world, with wars raging in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On this episode of All Songs Considered, Raina Douris of WXPN's World Cafe joins NPR's Stephen Thompson and host Robin Hilton to look back at the legacy of Funeral, why it was so special, the ways it changed the musical landscape, and how it sounds two decades later. We also consider how the allegations of sexual misconduct against frontman and founding member Win Butler have changed our relationship with the album.

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Raina Douris

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, comes to World Cafe from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she was host and writer for the daily live, national morning program Mornings on CBC Music. She was also involved with Canada's highest music honors: hosting the Polaris Music Prize Gala from 2017 to 2019, as well as serving on the jury for both that award and the Juno Awards. Douris has also served as guest host and interviewer for various CBC Music and CBC Radio programs, and red carpet host and interviewer for the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as a panelist for such renowned CBC programs as Metro Morning, q and CBC News.

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Robin Hilton

Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.

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Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)

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