Who knew suburban life could inspire such poetry? Arcade Fire make the macabre addictive again with The Suburbs, released this month.

The Montreal-based musicians have shifted their chilling, lyrically-powered lens toward life in suburbia, detailing repressive boredom, listlessness and just what those kids are up to in their signature anthemic sheen. Frontman Win Butler croons: “”I know we are the chosen few/But we’re wasted/And that’s why we’re still waiting.”” Such tragic romance for white picket fences and a car parked in every driveway.

Yet Arcade Fire do not wholeheartedly disparage the suburbs as a dreamless wasteland. Rather, it is a place where kids “”seem wild but they are so tame/They’re moving towards you with their colors all the same.”” Sometimes being asleep isn’t so easy to recognize.

The album, at times, becomes frantic, decrying the soullessness of this heavily-constructed environment, as heard in the laid-back, vampy track, “”City With No Children””: “”I feel like I’ve been living in/A city with no children in it/A garden left for ruin by a millionaire inside/Of a private prison.”” Of course it’s hell. But it’s home.

It’s also central to Arcade Fire’s identity, as sung in “”Wasted Hours””: “”We’re still kids in buses longing to be free.”” The birthplace of angst isn’t all bad — what would Arcade Fire be without the suburbs?

Another notable track include the velvety-smooth “”Half Light,”” an exemplary use of the minor chord. Butler and Régine Chassagne’s duet is a testament to the versatility of the band, with Chassagne’s less-often-heard voice adding an ethereal dimension to the album.

Overall, The Suburbs is an opus to the beautiful disaster that is life too-comfortable. And if it keeps creating music like this, it’s probably good if it’s here to stay. Arcade Fire prove that something really tremendous can come out of nothing.