Arcade Fire have returned after two years of silence with a timely released anti-Trump anthem, "I Give You Power." The soulful call and response of the track features music icon Mavis Staples and continues the dark rattle and groove of the band's last LP Reflektor.
It remains to be seen if the track will appear on the full length record Arcade Fire have recorded and poised for release later in the year, though it appears to be a one off according to Win Butler's statements during the premiere on Zane Lowe's Apple Music’s Beats 1 show:
“The song was made to come out now. That’s one of the beautiful things about the times we’re in — you can just put something out. 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 really have to offer is our music. 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.”
All proceeds from "I Give You Power" go to benefit the American Civil Liberties Union. Listen below.