The ABBA-evoking piano swells in the background as Arcade Fire lead singer Win Butler sings out in a staccato groove "Every room in my house is full of s--- I couldn't live without out." The juxstaposition is pronounced. There is trump and tragedy in Butler's declaration. The music makes you want to dance while the words make you want to make you mourn the consumerism that has swallowed culture whole.

That's Everything Now in a nutshell. Musically Arcade Fire continues to dance in the direction they started with previous release Reflektor. And the lyrics rummage through the complicated, broken world. There are moments that touch on a darkness the band hasn't hit since Neon Bible. Of course, Arcade Fire is not the first band to sing about the darkness while trying to dance. They won't be the last either, but this band is talented enough that it makes for an interesting, rewarding, if not perfect listen.

Words will fail here. I should get that out of the way at the start. Whenever I write something, I always feel like someone who underestimated the distance of a jump, but only realized it midair. But I know that these words are never going to cross the gap. It's not possible.

12 years ago, EA and I were married and time has done a weird thing. It doesn't feel like we have been married for that long, but at the same time, it's hard to remember a time before EA was in my life. A dozen years doesn't seem that long ago. 2005 doesn't seem like it was eons in the past. Then I remember that 12 years before I started falling for this woman, I was seven years old just like our oldest son is now.

"They told me this tale. A story about a creature that was born at the beginning of sentience. A yellow entity that was made of living fear. It created terror into anything it came in contact with. Caused entire civilizations to destroy themselves out of paranoia. Their fear was eaten by this creature....

[It] threatened to consume the entire universe. It wanted to infect every living creature with fear, and fear leads to violence. Violence leads to fear. Like an endless loop of death and destruction."
-from Green Lantern: Rebirth #3 by Geoff Johns

Earlier today, the oldest and I were riding in a car to an appointment. He was having a rough morning of his own doing and I wanted him to get re-grounded before we set off on the day. So I plugged in my phone and I played the Coldplay song "Strawberry Swing." I told him the story about how this was the song that his mom and I listened to when we brought him home from the hospital and it will always be one of my favorites because it reminds me of how lucky we are to have him. In the span of 4 minutes and 10 seconds, his entire demeanor brightened and we were ready to take on the day.

The song after that is "Death and All of His Friends." It's probably been a year or two since I've heard this song, but the escalating refrain at the end has been in my head all day long:

I don't want to battle from beginning to end
I don't want a cycle of recycled revenge
I don't want to follow death and all of his friends

For one night, a rustic camp dining hall was turned into a dance club. Flashing lights pulsated and a smoke machine filled the room. Every few songs, a group of teenagers poured outside for a break. It was an unusually cool evening for June and, even by the campfire, the night air allowed for a brief recharge before the bass line of a favorite song compelled them to come back in. While the students were by the fire, they recruited.

"Chriiiiiiiiiiissssss, come in and daaaaaaaance."

I don't dance. Not because of some grand moral stance. I would love to dance. Or at least I think I would. No, the problem is I am a white guy from South Carolina who was raised Baptist. I have tripped other people doing the Electric Slide. Unfortunately, dancing for me is peak awkwardness for an individual that already feels pretty darn awkward most of the time. I discovered recently that I am a 9 on the Enneagram and dance avoidance is a classic example of preserving my inner calm.

And I kind of hate that, because dancing looks like so much fun.