Arcade Fire open up about Will Butler’s departure from the band

nme.com:

Arcade Fire have opened up to NME about the recent departure of Will Butler from the band.Arcade Fire were founded by multi-instrumentalist Win Butler, Will’s brother, in Montreal in the early 2000s, with Butler joining in 2004 ahead of their debut album ‘Funeral’.After the band returned in March with news of their sixth album ‘WE’, and a video for its first single ‘The Lightning I, II’, Will confirmed on social media that he had left Arcade Fire.In a series of tweets posted on March 19, Will revealed that he had left the band at the end of last year, saying that it was “time for new things” and that the band remain his “friends and family”.“Hi friends— I’ve left Arcade Fire,” he wrote. “I left at the end of last year, after the new record was complete.

There was no acute reason beyond that I’ve changed—and the band has changed—over the last almost 20 years. Time for new things.”He added: “Thank you to anyone who’s come out to AF shows, or bought a record, or loves our music.

It’s meaningful to be part of your lives. Thank you to the crew, staff, management, label people, bands, artists, and friends who have helped bring our vision to life for so many years.