It feels like years since rumors started flying that Spike Jonze would be collaborating with Montreal’s favorite sons Arcade Fire on a short film inspired by their latest album — and indeed, the project was first revealed over a year ago. We’ve had a glimpse of the final product (entitled “Scenes From The Suburbs“), in the form of the video for the title track from the album, and the film premiered at SXSW last month, but with the group now anointed as one of the biggest bands in the world, following their surprise success at the Grammys, it feels like about time you and me got to see the full thing, right?
Fortunately, we don’t have that much longer to wait: Pitchfork reports that phenomenally irritating BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe announced on his show that the film will be available to purchase as part of a deluxe edition of “The Suburbs” that the band are releasing on June 27th (and, we imagine, the following day in the States, records generally being released a day earlier in the U.K.).
It had seemed likely that the film would see the light in this manner for a while now, with The Guardian suggesting that it was heading for a May release a few months back. But these are the first concrete details of the release, which will include two unreleased songs by the band, “Speaking in Tongues” and “Culture War,” as well as a DVD of the Jonze film, and a making-of documentary centered around the short. Lowe will play the new tracks on his show on May 23rd, a month ahead of the special edition’s release.
Our review from SXSW suggested that the short is more than worth the wait, calling it “heartbreaking and haunting,” and those of us who weren’t there are looking forward to catching up with it when it hits stores this summer. If you missed it before, you can watch the film’s trailer below.