POPSCREEN: Arcade Fire, "Neon Bible"

Arcade Fire

“Neon Bible”

Dir. Vincent Morisset

Frontman Win Butler’s disembodied and zoned-out face greets visitors to a mysterious Web site that, before its recent opening, was rumored to have performed all kinds of functions. The band had been leaving cryptic messages online for die-hard fans, who are a big crew, these days.

The band’s debut album, “Funeral,” slayed critics and listeners alike. Their latest disc, “Neon Bible,” was sub-par to some but did little to dissuade the legions.

It turns out that http://www.beonlineb.com is an interactive video for the new LP’s title track, and it’s almost as confusing as their official site, where shy human-pheasants roast marshmallows.

Red apples fly, rain falls from severed hands, and Butler performs parlor tricks if you’re intuitive enough to click on him at the right time. You can even indulge in a bizarre form of karaoke by moving the cursor over Win’s face—words in spidery font form in puffs of black smoke.

Though these extras can be distracting, viewers might actually appreciate the music once they get past the initial “Coooool!” The band’s usual hurdy-gurdies, French horns, and mandolins have all been left at home.

This song, like the rest of the album, was recorded in a church and the setting seems to have rubbed off on its eerie apocalyptic and religious lyrics.

Three years went by between the band’s two discs, and maybe it shouldn’t come as such a surprise that people might have trouble relating to impersonal lyrics such as: “Not much chance for survival / If the Neon Bible is right / Take the poison of your age / Don’t lick your finger when you turn the page.” Especially since you can’t lick a finger to turn Web-pages. The vid for “Neon Bible” makes me feel old, regardless of the fact that I have yet to hit my 20s.

—Anna I. Polonyi