"Creature Comfort" is a song by Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

. It was released on June 16, 2017, as the second single from the band's fifth studio album, ''

Everything Now ''Everything Now'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on July 28, 2017, through Sonovox Records (physical release), Columbia Records, and Rough Trade Records. It was produced by Arcade Fire, alongside T ...

''. The song was co-produced by Portishead's

Geoff Barrow Geoffrey Paul Barrow (born 9 December 1971) is an English music producer, composer, and DJ. He is a member of the bands Portishead, Beak and supergroup Quakers, and has scored several films. Portishead—formed in 1991—was named after the s ...

and

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material * ...

bassist Steve Mackey.

Music video

The "Creature Comfort" music video was directed by Tarik Mikou. The video depicts the members of Arcade Fire wearing shiny golden suits performing in a plainly decorated room as a strobe light flashes intermittently. The song's lyrics scroll via a ticker with the lead vocals at the bottom and the backing vocals at the top. Stephen Thompson of NPR interpreted the video as complementing the band's narrative on the album: "unrealistic expectations, pressure to conform, and the exhausting din of modern life."

Promotion and release

Arcade Fire first performed "Creature Comfort" on June 1, 2017, at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona. On June 14, Arcade Fire posted a

teaser Teaser may refer to: * One who teases * Teaser (animal), a male livestock animal (typically a bull) whose penis has been amputated, "''gomer''" Film exhibition, broadcasting, advertising * Teaser (trailer), a short film used to advertise an ...

for the studio version of the song on their

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page. The clip took the form of a mock advertisement for a 100% marshmallow breakfast cereal that contains

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, or Ritalin, and ended with a warning that the marshmallows "are not approved for consumption in the United States and Canada". The band also revealed that they had distributed Creature Comfort cereal boxes at several locations around

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. Fans who found the cereal received entry to an afterparty at Whelan's that night following the band's performance at

Malahide Castle Malahide Castle ( ga, Caisleán Mhullach Íde), parts of which date to the 12th century, lies close to the village of Malahide, nine miles (14 km) north of central Dublin in Ireland. It has over of remaining parkland estate, forming the ...

. "Creature Comfort" was released as a download on June 16, 2017 on streaming and digital media services.

Reception

The song received critical acclaim from critics and fans upon release, many noted its moving lyrics and tight instrumentation. Elias Leight of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' likened the song to The Human League's "Seconds" and The Knife's " Heartbeats" and wrote: "Underneath the curtain of synthesizers, ringing power chords, pulverizing drums and cheerfully shouted backing vocals, lead singer Win Butler tells a grim tale about cultural pressures that lead men and women to hate themselves." In reviews for the song in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Jacob Stolworthy said the track "signals that Arcade Fire's best days may not be behind them", and Christopher Hooton remarked, "It's the kind of song where you don't know whether to cry or dance, and that's probably the best kind." Jeremy Gordon of ''

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'' described the synthesizer that sets the song's tempo as "the sonic realization of the band's decade-old dream about the dark mystery of the city." Pitchfork's Jillian Mapes said that while the song "will stop someone from doing something rash ... Arcade Fire are pompous about knowing that, throwing their arms wide around the problem and presenting their own music as the solution."

Credits and personnel

Arcade Fire * Win Butler – vocals, electric guitar * Régine Chassagne – vocals, keytar *

Richard Reed Parry Richard Reed Parry (born October 4, 1977) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching ...

– electric guitar, backing vocals * William Butler – keyboards, backing vocals *

Tim Kingsbury Tim Kingsbury (born 1977) is a Canadian musician and member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire. He plays bass guitar, guitar, and occasionally keyboards. Early life Kingsbury spent his early years living in and around Guelph, Ontario. He comes ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Jeremy Gara Jeremy Gara (born June 6, 1978) is a Canadian drummer from Ottawa, Ontario. He is most well known as the drummer of the band Arcade Fire. Gara is an active performer in a number of other projects, including work as a solo performer. Career Ga ...

– drums Additional musicians *

– synthesizer *Akia Nevills – vocals *Tracci Lee – vocals *Kayla Jasmine – vocals *Jelly Joseph – vocals Recording personnel *Geoff Barrow – production * Steve Mackey – production *Arcade Fire – production *Iain Berryman – engineering *Korey Richey – engineering *Mark Lawson – engineering *Eric Heigle – engineering *Max Prior – assistant engineering *

Craig Silvey Craig Silvey (born 1 January 1982) is an Australian novelist. Silvey has twice been named one of the Best Young Australian Novelists by ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' and has been shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. His 200 ...

– mixing * Greg Calbi – mastering

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2017 singles 2017 songs Arcade Fire songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Steve Mackey Songs about suicide Songs written by William Butler (musician) Songs written by Win Butler Songs written by Régine Chassagne Songs written by Jeremy Gara Songs written by Tim Kingsbury Songs written by Richard Reed Parry