Music

Arcade Fire's 'Funeral' at 20

By Raina Douris,

Robin Hilton, Stephen Thompson

Published September 17, 2024 at 2:25 PM CDT

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.

Tags

Music All Songs Considered

Raina Douris

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, is the host and writer of NPR's daily nationally-syndicated music interview and discovery program World Cafe. She has interviewed artists like Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Questlove and Brandi Carlile, and was a 2022 keynote lecturer on the topic of Folk Music and music discovery at the Chautauqua Institution.

Robin Hilton

Robin Hilton is the Senior Podcast Producer for NPR Music. He also hosts the New Music Friday episodes of All Songs Considered.

Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a host, writer and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist and guest host on All Songs Considered. Thompson also co-hosts the daily NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created with NPR's Linda Holmes in 2010. 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.)