I can't believe it's been 3 years since the cathedral recordings of Neon Bible. But it has and since we've been good fans and have waited ever-so-patiently for Arcade Fire's next great opus, we've been treated to three leaked tracks from the band's upcoming August release: The Suburbs.

The fact that the title track of this album greeted me on my drive to work two days ago has stuck with me as a symbol of hope and goodness, regardless of the almost oppressive melancholy of the song itself.

This is easily my favorite track so far, although we've apparently got 16 to choose from so I suppose I shouldn't get too far ahead of myself with a month left to go. At any rate, Butler's wail is in fine form here and the band is doing something a little bluesy--a looser rhythm or structure that I'm definitely feeling.

The lyrics are the introspective, downbeat Arcade Fire we've come to know and love. If I were to draw any pretentious comparisons here, I'd say the track reminds me a bit of "Cold Wind"--full of regret and nostalgia and a sweet sense of wanting to share something, anything, before it's too late:

So can you understand?
Why I want a daughter while I'm still young
I wanna hold her hand
And show her some beauty
Before this damage is done

And I love that he sings, in a desperate, pleading voice, that if it's too much to ask, he'll settle for a son.

In an increasingly frightening period of time where it seems as though things, the beautiful things, are moving past us too quickly--or that we're leaving them behind without proper goodbyes--"The Suburbs" is a body ache, an earnest longing:

Kids wanna be so hard
But in my dreams we're still screamin' and runnin' through the yard
And all of the walls that they built in the seventies finally fall
And all of the houses they build in the seventies finally fall
Meant nothin' at all
Meant nothin' at all

It's a brilliant song and a song that lodges itself in your sinews long after it's over, pressing you to tap your foot in an unconscious but familiar rhythm. If "The Suburbs" other 15 tracks are anywhere as deeply felt as this, we're one month away from one of the best albums of the year.

This is a live recording of another track from the new album, "Ready to Start." Although I have less loyalty to this song, the band already sounds tight playing these tracks live. Plus, it's really cool to think that they're playing in someone's fucking living room.