After the break-through success of their Grammy-winning third album, 2010's The Suburbs, Arcade Fire is taking their time crafting the next effort. The band has been writing songs and working in the studio, and they plan to get the next album out before the end of 2013. However, there is no timetable set in stone.
"We're not that far into a record, but we've been working for a few months now," drummer Jeremy Gara told CKCU/Ottawa. "We are under no pressure from record labels or management or whatever to do anything on any sort of schedule. We're just working. We have no deadlines. It's kind of coming along."
Gara did not give much indication about what the new music sounds like. He said simply: "We are just working like we always have. We took a couple months off and we've been writing songs. Now we're in the studio pretty much full-time just doing what we do. And we kind of shut the door. We haven't really gone out and done anything in over a year now. We haven't done photos or interviews or anything. We're just working on music and growing beards and living at home a lot and going out to dinner together."
Gara, who used to be a deejay at CKCU in the 1990s, told the station that for some members of the band, the idea of raising a family is becoming a priority. He stressed that they are really not pushing themselves to adhere to a deadline. "The goal is to work through Christmas and get something finished around springtime, and then who knows how long it takes to get something out," he said about the new album. "But I'd say later next year, if I can ballpark."