Arcade Fire - "I Give You Power"

Arcade Fire have shared a new song called "I Give You Power" featuring Mavis Staples. It's the band's first piece of new material since 2013's Reflektor and proceeds from the song will go to the ACLU.


"I Give You Power" is not the rousing, super-charged lead single many were probably hoping for as the first taste of new Arcade Fire in almost four years. Instead, this well-timed new song is a steady march of a track with a slinking disco skulk and post-punk beats that feels more like transitional moment than it does as a solid new statement in their sound. "I Give You Power / I Can Take It Away" chants Win Butler and Mavis Staples over the course of the track and as the country enters and dark, new time, it's the hopeful sentiment we all need and certainly bears repeating. In an interview with Zane Lowe, Butler commented:

“It’s the eve of the inauguration and I think it’s easy to get sucked into sitting on the couch and checking your news feed and watching things on CNN, and we’re just musicians and the only thing we have to offer is our music.” He continued, “I talked to Mavis last night and she said, ‘Now more than ever we just need to hold onto each other.’ For us it’s a feeling of solidarity—to not feel powerless and focus on what we can do as individuals and try to do our part.”