Will Butler explains “wonderful” decision to leave Arcade Fire

Will Butler has looked back at his decision to leave Arcade Fire, and described the move as a “wonderful” one.

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The band was founded by his brother, Win Butler, in the early 2000s in Montreal, and Will joined the line-up in 2004 ahead of their debut album ‘Funeral’. He remained in the group through their next five albums, and confirmed that he would be leaving around the same time that they announced their sixth album, ‘WE’.

“Hi friends— I’ve left Arcade Fire,” he said in 2022. “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.”

“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,” he added. “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. The band are still my friends and family. I’ll be around! See you around!”

Now, over three years since leaving the line-up, he has looked back at the decision again in a new interview, and said that he is still certain that he made the right choice.

“It’s been wonderful,” he told The i Paper, looking at his new projects. This includes work on the critically acclaimed Stereophonic play, written by David Adjmi and following a fictional band on the cusp of making it big.

Songs in the play are written by Butler, and a nine-month sold-out Broadway run led to it being nominated for a record-breaking 13 Tony Awards. It took home the trophy in five categories, including Best Play.

It has now arrived in London’s West End and is being performed at the Duke of York Theatre.

“I’ve got this crew, and I’ve got my band,” he said about his latest endeavours. “It was pretty instinctual leaving the band. It was like, ‘I have a little gas in the tank. I should do something scary’… And now I walk to work and my name is on a marquee at the Duke of York’s. It’s really wonderful.”

When announcing that he would be leaving the group, he also revealed that he had begun work on a new solo album, which would be the follow-up to 2015’s ‘Policy’ and 2020’s ‘Generations’.

Around the time of Will’s departure from Arcade Fire, the remaining band members spoke to NME about the change in the line-up.

“He’s our family and everyone in the band’s family, and he’s such a brilliant guy – he has so many things that just aren’t this band,” brother and frontman Win Butler said. “And on a human level, he’s got three young children, he just has so much other stuff to do – we’re fully supportive of his path, and can’t wait to see it.”

Will’s decision to leave the group came before allegations of sexual misconduct arose against Win Butler in 2022. Five people came forward to accuse the singer of inappropriate behaviour, and the accusations also led to Feist leaving the band’s tour that year early.

Butler responded to the allegations in a lengthy statement, claiming he was “very sorry to anyone who I have hurt with my behaviour” but maintaining that “these relationships were all consensual”.

Arcade Fire recently shared their seventh album, ‘Pink Elephant’, and previewed the album earlier in the year with the lead single ‘Year Of The Snake’.

Before then, the band had debuted the single at Willie Nelson’s Luck Festival, and also showed off the then-unreleased material at two special shows in Mexico City.

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