An Austin, Texas writer and his wife got the attention of Arcade Fire singer and guitarist Win Butler yesterday after voicing their displeasure at the band's publicity campaign regarding their forthcoming album, Reflektor.
The wife of Austin writer Ian Dille, author of the article "My Wife Was Vandalized By Arcade Fire", noticed a spray-painted Reflektor logo a few weeks ago on the outside wall of a picture framing shop where she works, Slate reports.
Earlier this week, seven posters promoting the album were put up on the same wall. "Suddenly we got it," Dille wrote. "And we weren't all that stoked that Arcade Fire had blessed us with its marketing. But unlike a lot of people, who thought the graffiti campaign was ingenious, when I found out the logo was nothing but a commercial promotion I felt ... used. Even -- and maybe this is too harsh? -- a little betrayed."
The posters and paste were removed after a few hours of cleaning but Dille added the band might want to rethink how to go about promoting their record outside of "defacing public and private property for promotional purposes..."
But perhaps Dille got a surprise when, after posting the article, he received a photo from the band's publicity department hours later of a handwritten note Win Butler penned upon finding out what happened.
"Dear Ian," Butler writes. "I'm really sorry that you and your wife had to put up with that. The logos were supposed to be put up with water soluble paint or chalk so they would come off in the rain. Somewhere down the line someone must have gotten confused and used paint. The chalk campaign was supposed to echo haitian veve drawings that are done in chalk or in the dirt. It is sometimes hard to control all these tiny details when you are doing something on such a large scale. Hope to meet you at a show when we are in Austin. All the best, Win."
As reported earlier this week, the band staged small club shows at Montreal's Salsatheque, performing eight "very long" songs the first night. A second show the next night reportedly consisted of nine songs. Consequence Of Sound says one song on the second night "began with possibly the fastest-sung verse in the Arcade Fire catalogue, sounding similar to The Rolling Stones' 'Rip This Joint.'" The second show was also filmed in its entirety in black and white.
The band enabled listeners to pre-order the double album this week with fans getting the first crack at tickets for a forthcoming world tour when the dates are announced. The album is the follow-up to 2010's The Suburbs.
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