Arcade Fire Drop New Song, “I Give You Power,” with Mavis Staples
Arcade Fire have been teasing new music for a good while now, and drummer Jeremy Gara even recently revealed that the iconic band have finished recording their next LP. This afternoon, the band followed through on those teases, releasing a new song, “I Give You Power” featuring recent Kennedy Center Honoree Mavis Staples.
I’ve already listened to this thing about five times already, and it sounds like there are all kinds of crazy vibes and influences on it. There’s definitely a lot of Reflektor still in the mix. Staples and Win Butler trade vocals back and forth throughout the song, and the sound is as rich and full as it’s ever been for the Canadian band. More than any other, though, it sounds like the track is heavily channeling the vibes and grooves of the late, great Leonard Cohen. Just listen as the song, and Staples’s vocals in particular, devolve into something that sounds definitely Cohen-esque.
The band has tweeted a few times about the origin of the song, which it seems is being released independently of the upcoming fifth LP. All proceeds of the song will go to the ACLU:
It's never been more important that we stick together & take care of each other.
Love, Mavis Staples and Arcade Firehttps://t.co/4pz2rgNjYi— Arcade Fire (@arcadefire) January 19, 2017
All proceeds go to @ACLU https://t.co/OmOeMw1PIq
— Arcade Fire (@arcadefire) January 19, 2017
Also, check out that new Twitter picture. Pretty cool, huh? Maybe new album art, maybe album art for this single. Either way, there’s a pretty fun new jam. I know the James Murphy/Reflektor sound for Arcade Fire is fairly polarizing, but I’m all about it. Bring it on.
Listen to the song below through Tidal: