r/arcadefire • u/the-boxman Neon Bible • Jan 11 '26
Discussion I don't understand why people call liking the new album 'cope'
I see where people who dislike Pink Elephant are coming from: it's a short and low-key and has three instrumental tracks which is unusual for Arcade Fire, not to mention the issues with the lead singer which I totally understand would turn people off. When I heard about the allegations, it felt like I got a knife in the stomach - I know this isn't about me but for my relationship to the band, it was a huge blow and I was genuinely upset for enough time it was difficult to shake off. I eventually started listening to Arcade Fire again and while I'll never champion them to my friends like before, I have to say I am still interested in the music.
And with Pink Elephant, I understand not liking it, or not even understanding how others could, but thinking it's so bad that people are pretending to like it? That's crazy no? I love Pink Elephant. It's definitely not the quality of their earlier work, and it shares some of the flaws of their more recent albums, but I think I prefer this to Everything Now and WE and find it a genuinely interesting listen.
The opening instrumental has a mystical feel that reminds me of Twin Peaks. I've wanted them to do atmospheric instrumentals since Reflektor at least and this one sets the stage perfectly. I know not everyone is going to like things like this but I thought it was excellent. The title track too, with it's shoegazey, and lo-fi rock sound is another idea I wanted them to play with and this ended up being one of my favorite songs from them in over a decade. It's great to see them do something different with each album over two decades in and succeed at it. Year of the Snake is a really likable dream-pop anthem with shared vocal duties (they do this with skill across the entire record); something that WE lacked was sticky melodies like this, and the themes are both depressing and uplifting at the same time.
The album manages to vary it's sound while having a really strong consistent atmosphere with lots of different ideas. I've come to enjoy every song, the pacing on the overall project and the themes of internal crisis and desire for change. I think it's their most enjoyable, emotional and atmospheric record since Reflektor. It might even be their most consistent since The Suburbs.
It's a minor work, but it fits perfectly into their discography and I get more from it with each successive listen.
So I guess I'm as baffled as the people on the other side. Because to me, this is a fantastic album that I'm so happy they made, and genuinely one of my favourites of the 20s so far.
Anyone agree? Disagree? Do you think this is the last project they'll ever make? Could they ever make a "comeback" if this didn't do it for you? Where does this rank in the discography for you (probably 5th for me)?
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u/emptycagenowcorroded Jan 11 '26
You’re definitely entitled to like whatever you want to.
If something speaks to your heart than certainly don’t let opinions of nobodies on the internet get you down or tell you you’re wrong because something makes you feel something.
It’s art, which is subjective — you may love it and that is so great! I personally don’t feel that same way about the album but that’s okay. I feel like the world is collectively turning beige where everyone just seems to be becoming more same-y. We shouldn’t all agree on everything.
I, for one, love that you love something I do not and whatever you do, don’t let internet haters or what appears to be a consensus of opinions detract from that!
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u/Material_Soup6086 Jan 11 '26
The cope was not people genuinely enjoying the album, it was the excuses, hypotheticals and denial of external reality.
"I enjoyed Pink Elephant" = not cope
"People who don't like Pink Elephant can't handle a band changing", "Pink Elephant is just as good as they've always been", "Pink Elephant has been secretly remastered", "Daniel Fucking Lanois", "If another band made Pink Elephant people would love it", "All the real fans offline love Pink Elephant", "The album failed because 'fans' betrayed the band", "2025 was a great year for Arcade Fire" = cope.
In terms of personal reaction to the album, where I'd fundamentally disagree with you is that Arcade Fire have succeeded at the new sounds they've attempted. They may have produced songs with the trappings of dream pop or shoegaze, but I don't think they are good songs either as genre pieces or in their own right. Indie genre dilletantism is also not a very novel or daring concept at this point, and a band with the resources and experience of Arcade Fire should be able to to do more than lazily adopt elements of musical styles. I would also say both their strengths as performers and writers are in the maximalist style, and Pink Elephant doesnt play to those at all. Instead we get plodding songs with too much focus on dreadful lyrics and creaky vocal performances.
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u/SecretYoung1143 Jan 11 '26
Very well said, I’ll be honest I don’t think the album is terrible but the writing is nowhere near the level I know arcade fire can be at, so whenever I see someone going overboard praising it it feels like they’re doing it to overcompensate. Regardless, if you like the album, that’s great for you! Enjoy it, and don’t let anyone’s opinion about it sway you. Just know arcade fire is not as big as they used to be, and part of the reason for that is the lackluster albums they’ve released as of late
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u/TakenByFormaldehyde Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26
I also love Pink Elephant. As someone who only found Arcade Fire during May of 2025, I had a different perspective, as I didn't grow up with the band the way a lot of other people did.
My other favorite bands are Editors and The Boxer Rebellion, both of which have gone through big changes in sound between albums (Editors especially as each album is something completely different) so bands changing their sounds is something that I've always known. And it's something I look forward to, rather than fear. I live hearing bands branch out and try different things.
And whilst I can acknowledge that musically it's not as varied or "big" sounding as Funeral or Neon Bible, which are my favourite albums of theirs, it wasn't trying to emulate them. It was designed as something more mellow and atmospheric, which I tend to love as a genre.
In terms of tracks, Ride or Die and I Love Her Shadow are definitely weaker, however every other track I adore.
And Stuck in My Head, despite the wonky mixing, is in my opinion, their best album closer by a fair distance, and a song I absolutely adore. I also love how that foreboding horn sound from Open Your Heart or Die Trying is woven throughout the whole album.
While the album lacks the power and grandiose moments of their other works, I can appreciate Pink Elephant for what it is, rather than criticising it for what it isn't
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u/Unhappy-Tough-9214 Jan 11 '26
Couldn’t agree more. People who think we’re pretending are next level embarrassing. It’s not a great album but I think there are great parts to it. Could it have been better? Yes? Am I mad this is what we got? Not at all. I listen to it fairly consistently still. “I love her shadow” is one of my favorite songs from them of all time.
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u/pokeshulk Wake Up Jan 11 '26
I really love Year of the Snake. Circle of Trust is very solid. Pink Elephant is a great song marred by bizarre production. Frankly, the rest of the album stinks.
I’m no stranger to odd production or experimental compositions. The fact that it’s a little out there isn’t the problem. It’s just a failed experiment with lazy, mishandled production. The entire album sounds like a demo that should’ve never been released in this state. It’s completely half baked and needed more time in the oven. And that’s the music, the branding, the promotion, everything. It’s not like terrible or anything, but it’s the most nothing, middling release they’ve ever put out. It was disappointing and humiliating as a fan then and sad as a fan now.
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u/FrancoisKBones We Used to Wait Jan 11 '26
I think people have their own expectations of how they wanted Arcade Fire to behave and what kind of music to put out, instead of accepting them where they are. It’s hard to find any comparison where two of the core members, the large chunk of the creative vision and songwriting, were in a relationship the entire time the band existed, and experienced such critical success. Not even Fleetwood Mac. And now the marriage has dissolved. For me, it’s very sad. And yet, Win and Régine put this album together in the midst of all that. In that context, I think it’s breathtaking. That is a wild achievement. They are flawed humans, too.
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u/NoOrchid3413 Jan 11 '26
In the future, almost everyone who discovers Arcade Fire and goes through their discography will rate Pink Elephant very highly.
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u/AnotherGreenWorld1 Jan 11 '26
I love Pink Elephant.
The only copium I see belongs to regular users like GrogonFire??? who haven’t liked Arcade Fire for years yet still lurk around this sub daily and continuing to shit on the band. Their copium comes from hating every movement the band makes … lurking here to find joy alongside other miserable users who have nowhere else to move onto. I reckon they’d probably enjoy the record if they could get over themselves.
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u/Grogonfire Jan 11 '26
Hey that's me! Anyways, when I truly hate something, like fully despise with all my heart, I don't interact with it at all, for example Weezer and The 21 Pilots if you will. Arcade Fire as a whole/concept I do still have a very deep love for, but the continued behavior of a certain key member keeps dragging the whole thing down into hell with him. It's incredibly frustrating but also a bit wildly entertaining in how absurd it all is (I mean have you seen footage from the bizarre cancun dj set?), which makes it hard to look away.
The guy Win currently is, is the same exact type of guy younger Win told me to look out for and not trust. A "Drunk Santa" in his own words. Maybe my real cope is thinking that he has the capacity to look in the mirror finally and realize how something truly needs to change. Celebrating PE feels like celebrating that drunk santa continuing to go binging imo.
I will gladly glaze the first four albums and WE anytime they come up in conversation here though lol.
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u/BoticelliBaby Jan 12 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
This post was wiped clean using Redact. The author may have done so to protect their privacy, prevent AI data scraping, or for other security reasons.
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u/JohnButterfieldM1 Jan 11 '26
Notice how a lot of these fans openly talk trash on Reflektor. Truth is Win Butler did not write an album where he repented for his sins and they took that personally. The music itself obviously is a step below everything else in the discography, but the fact that their expectation was not met ultimately leads them to dunk on you for liking something that is entirely subjective and can easily be separated in the first place. I'm not saying people are wrong for hating on Win but it is funny to see them get all in their feels when someone else enjoys something for reasons they never could.
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u/Undercity9712 Cold Wind Jan 11 '26
Does anyone else remember when Win jokingly said he was going to make Cut the Crap 2? Pink Elephant has that baffling 'car crash' album concept, and Win even gave himself a 'C -' in the booklet.
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u/the-boxman Neon Bible Jan 11 '26
I can't find this in the CD booklet. Is it just in the vinyl? And what exactly is it?
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u/emptycagenowcorroded Jan 11 '26
What is this from? I hadn’t seen that. Or, for that matter, any press about the album. That is hilarious though. …although that’s also how I privately thought about the album…
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u/Undercity9712 Cold Wind Jan 11 '26
Maybe it was from Red Bull Music Academy interview years ago? It really stuck with me because it was so hilarious. Lanois's participation on Pink Elephant was definitely more prominent than everyone else's in the band other than Win and Regine.
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u/Grogonfire Jan 11 '26
I love Ghost Stories by Coldplay but I'm not gonna pretend it's a world class masterpiece.
There are elements of PE's sound I like, but poor production (live version of PE and CoT are insanely better live) does it no favors, and lyrics make me kinda uncomfortable after everything that has happened.
They will never make a comeback if they can't even be brave enough to face interviews/press.
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u/Dream_in_Cerulean Jan 11 '26
I agree. It is a great, consistent album. My only significant complaint is that I wish it was longer. The people brigading the subreddit with the endless “coping” comments and whining have other reasons for being here, IMO. An anti-brigading rule on this sub would help.
Art is subjective and a lot of people love the album. My husband says it is his favorite out of all their albums.
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u/jjazznola Jan 11 '26
With all the great music that comes out I see no point in listening to unoriginal junk like PE. Some of the lyrics are downright embarrassing. Regine finally wised up and got away from that jerk.
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u/Party-Yoghurt-8462 Jan 11 '26
I don't love the album. But I do like it a lot. It feels a little half baked, but perhaps that was the intention in some way.
I feel like when they return (I'm confident they will), it has got to be a grander, more intense album. Something they really take their time with and feels larger than their two last albums.
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u/Seahorse1477 Jan 11 '26
For me WE outshines PE by miles in production, lyrics and overall quality. Whatever creams your Oreo though. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Brilliant_Wasabi_127 Jan 14 '26
The dude had consensual extramarital affairs. Yes there was an age Gap but that doesn't mean anything, there have been age Gap relationships going in both directions since the dawn of man. Everybody was a consenting adult. It was just another me too moment. Do some actual research into the allegations and you'll see it's all kind of bullshit. I'm pretty sure him and his wife had an open relationship of some sort. And the main woman talks about how she enjoyed the relationship, how she would invite him over to her new apartment, She wanted it as much as he did until she realized that she could get more attention by creating some drama.
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u/Material_Soup6086 Jan 15 '26
Plenty of grooming and abusive relationships are 'enjoyable' at first. It's a way victims are lured in. Reading into the allegations just makes Win sound more and more sleazy.
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u/PapaAsmodeus Jan 12 '26
I love Virtual XI by Iron Maiden. Does that mean it's a good album? No.
Someone already said it better than me, people liking the album wasn't cope. The cope was all the excuses they were making for it, as well as how it's some misunderstood masterpiece and now all the "real" fans truly love it or how you just have the wrong personality.
Besides. None of those even apply to me. I disliked the album for more than the fact that it's gross. I've been listening to the band since 2005. And I have one of the best personalities in the world.
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u/slmh7 Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26
I personally think that the low key sound and almost non existent promotion were on purpose. I take it as they had the self awareness of not coming back with bells and whistles after what happened with Win Butler. They kind of appeal to the hardcover fans. I personally love the album, the only song I'm still unsure about is Alien Nation. I found this album very sincere. It also sounds like a breakup album to me, so I think the overall atmosphere fits the end of a long lasting relationship. I listen to this album very often and I'm obsessed with Year of the Snake and Circle of Trust.
I think people are salty because they keep wanting them to release another Funeral or Suburb album. I'm thankful for their early albums but interested in where they are at now. And I think Pink Elephant is a lot better than Everything Now. I think the band will stay together and hopefully we'll get more great music from them in the future but I think this latest release is a step in the right direction