Arcade Fire Share a Much-Needed Pop-Rock Joyride with “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)”

It’s the latest single from the group’s forthcoming album WE, out May 6.

Arcade Fire Share a Much-Needed Pop-Rock Joyride with “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)”

It’s the latest single from the group’s forthcoming album WE, out May 6.

Words: Margaret Farrell

Photo: Mallory Turner

April 27, 2022

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire is releasing their long-anticipated album WE on May 6, and today they've shared the latest single called "Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)." It's an encouraging joyride that opens with jumpy acoustic guitars, sparkling chimes, and upbeat "doo-doo-doos."

The single expresses trusting one's mind ("But you can't trust it every time / You know it plays tricks on you") and body ("You can dance / You can shake / Things will break / You make mistakes") and embracing life's imperfections that make it beautiful and worth living. It's a wholesome anthem, the kind that Arcade Fire excel at when they're in their groove. Especially with how shit a lot of things still feel in this 2022 pandemic world, "Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)" is the kind of music the world needs.

“There’s nothing saccharine about unconditional love in a world that is coming apart at the seams,” Win Butler explained about the new song. “WE need each other, in all of our imperfection. ‘Lookout Kid’ is a reminder, a lullaby for the end times, sung to my son, but for everyone… Trust your heart, trust your mind, trust your body, trust your soul. Shit is going to get worse before it gets better, but it always gets better, and no one’s perfect. Let me say it again. No one’s perfect.”

Listen to it below.