Arcade Fire have shared a new video for ‘Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)’, filled with the tube men that have appeared at their recent live shows – watch it below.
The track, shared last month, is the second single from the band’s sixth album, ‘WE’, which came out last week (May 6).
The video centres around a host of inflatable tube men, which have also danced around while the band played the song at a number of recent shows at Coachella, in New York and at London’s KOKO.
Speaking to NME for last week’s Big Read cover feature, frontman Win Butler was reminded of a scene from the Coachella set, when one of the tube men didn’t inflate properly and needed a kick in order to begin dancing with his friends.
“I think when we were making these songs, we weren’t sure what world we were making it for,” he responded.
“There’s so many precarious things in the world and so much to have anxiety about, but I’ve been trying to really appreciate these moments when I’m in them. When the world is a beautiful place, I’m trying to allow myself to appreciate it in a way that I wouldn’t have before.”
Butler added: “The concept of the video for ‘…Lookout Kid’ is that one of those tube men is depressed and their whole family is happy around them.”
Watch Arcade Fire’s new video below.
‘Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)’ was given its live debut last month during that surprise performance at the first weekend of Coachella 2022. During the performance, Butler had to restart the song after being overcome with emotion. Dedicating the track to his son, Butler told the crowd: “It’s been a hard fucking year.”
When releasing the song, Butler wrote to fans: “There’s nothing saccharine about unconditional love in a world that is coming apart at the seams. WE need each other, in all of our imperfection.
“’Lookout Kid’ is a reminder, a lullaby for the end times, sung to my son, but for everyone… Trust your heart, trust your mind, trust your body, trust your soul. Shit is going to get worse before it gets better, but it always gets better, and no one’s perfect.”
At the weekend (May 7), the band brought the track to Saturday Night Live alongside first ‘WE single ‘The Lightning I, II’ in a performance in which they appeared to speak out over a leaked draft from the US Supreme Court suggesting the organisation is preparing to overturn Roe V. Wade – a 1973 ruling that made abortion legal on a federal level.
Reviewing ‘WE’, NME wrote: “Our global journey from fear to appreciation is played out in what Arcade Fire themselves accurately describe as a ‘concise 40-minute epic’. Philosophically, they haven’t been so focussed since 2010’s ‘The Suburbs’, nor so musically dramatic since 2007’s ‘Neon Bible’. Subscribe.”
On the album’s release day, the band announced a massive 2022 world tour that Win told NME he hopes will be “the definitive Arcade Fire tour.”
Arcade Fire will be joined by special guest Feist for the UK and European dates, while Beck will join them to play acoustic sets in North America. UK dates take place in early September, and you can view ticket details and further information here for the UK and here for North America.
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