Arcade Fire are over Sagittarius A* black hole.
There is a new champion in the 21st century's Cosmic rock scene.
The artwork for the band's new album includes an image of the monster black hole M87 and a song title and lyrics about the black hole in our galaxy.
The European Southern held a news conference during which the band members performed the songs "We" and "End of the Empire IV (Sagittarius A*)". The performance is above.
The first photo of the monster black hole explained in images is Sagittarius A*.
The artwork for the back cover of the Arcade Fire record is a variation of the first ever image of a black hole. The band has been together since the early 2000s, and their sixth studio album is We.
Space.com had the chance to chat with the band about their new record and recent performance. The interview has been edited lightly.
Space.com is great to talk to you. What drew you to black holes?
There is a song called "End of the Empire" and it is nine and a half minutes. I read an article about Sagittarius A* because we had the first three parts. I wrote its name on an index card and walked by it every day. I knew that the fourth part of the song would be called Sagittarius A*.
The tone of the record sets the stage for a spiritual and introspective experience for me. How much of it was inspired by looking into the universe?
There is so much we don't know about ourselves. The first half of the record is about a character who wants to escape themselves and all the problems of the planet, and maybe if I could just make it through the black hole, that would be great. When they get there, they find their own eye and everyone they've ever loved and their family. It is like the thing that we are trying to run away from is just ourselves and it is all connected.
How do you feel about the image of the black hole in the sky? It is hard to see an actual visual of it so soon after the release of the record.
It was a great surprise. I would love to be that smart, because people have been texting me and asking me if it was like an elaborate release strategy or something. It is a sense of collaboration, having all these telescopes all over the planet, and teams from all these different countries working together towards a common cause. We get so focused on the day-to-day issues that we forget to think about the bigger picture. The black hole in the middle of our galaxy is bigger.
Can you tell us how a 1921 sci-fi novel inspired us?
My minor is in Russian literature. The peak of the Russian Revolution is what I took a class on, and Yevgeny Zamyatin's novel is the first book that George Orwell wrote. The world was changing fast when the revolution was happening, and it was exciting. The man raised his hand and said, "Hey, guys, like, I know we're all really excited right now, but there might be a couple of issues that I just want to flag that we should maybe think about."
Space.com asked if you have any other science fiction influences.
I like science fiction. I am a huge fan of William Gibson, a fellow Canadian. I have always been a big fan of Neal] Stephenson. Too many to name. Orwell is a hero to me.
How did the performance at the press conference come together?
It came in yesterday. We set up some mics in our house, and we were home for a moment. The piano is in our living room and it is only used for a small performance. It feels very exciting because the second song we played, "We", is sort of an imagination of the other side of love and hope and rebirth. I think those ideas are in short supply, so it is nice to have something to inspire you.
Space.com asked if there were any other aspects of the record connected to space.
It was during the election in November in far West Texas, and I think it is more like when we recorded in El Paso. It was just like, you know, crazy, crazy time. We were next to the border wall and the property we were on was similar to the Mexican border wall. We would sit around the fire and watch the West Texas sky. It is like this moment in peak COVID, where we can all be together and actually eat dinner together and hang out outside and just be under the stars, and just to have this sense of being overwhelmed by how precious this is.
Did you have a chance to look at the stars through a telescope while you were there?
There was a crazy ring around the moon when we were there. I don't know what it is. It was amazing, we all have photos of it on our phones.
That is awesome. It always sticks with you, you can't beat those types of experiences. It was a great show today.
Thank you.
You can learn more about the album on the band's website.
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