The first pictures of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way were shared by the international consortium behind the Event Horizon Telescope yesterday (Thursday, May 12th) and Arcade Fire were a part of the big reveal. The black hole’s name is “Sagittarius A*,” which is also the subtitle of Arcade Fire’s new WE album track, “End Of The Empire IV.” Band members Win Butler and Regine Chassagne were on hand at the European Southern Observatory to play the song during the press conference.
Butler shared a picture of “Sagittarius A* and a snipped of their performance on Arcade Fire’s social media accounts writing, “There is so much that we don’t understand about ourselves; our minds, our planet, our solar system. When I first read about Sagittarius A*, the super massive black hole that sits in the center of our galaxy, it felt symbolic of all we seek to understand about ourselves, and yet fail to fully grasp . . . And today, WE know a little bit more, thanks to the collaboration of a vast network of telescopes and scientists all over the world. A testament to what we can accomplish together as humanity . . . Perhaps 'We’ll see one day, what’s on the other side.' Thank you so much @esoastronomy for the invitation to perform, it was an honor.”
Arcade Fire’s cover of Harry Styles‘ hit “As It Was” was also released yesterday.