Will Butler of Arcade Fire announced his departure from the band on Saturday (March 19.)
The multi-instrumentalist took to Twitter to explain his departure. "Hi friends— I’ve left Arcade Fire," the first tweet of his thread reads. He continued, "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." Butler says that he has many other projects "percolating" including a new record, booking new shows, and music for a David Adjmi play which he describes as "so good."
Butler left the thread with gratitude towards his fans, “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. I’ll be around! See you around!”
Butler, who is the brother of vocalist, Win Butler, joined the indie rock band in 2003 and has been a part of every album since. Arcade Fire's upcoming album “The Lightning I, II” still features Butler's contribution and is set to release on May 6.
See the full Twitter thread below.