(Reuters) - Canadian rock band Arcade Fire notched up their first UK number one album on Sunday when their latest release debuted at the top of the charts, the Official Charts Company said.

"The Suburbs," the band's first album for three years, went one better than their last release "Neon Bible" which reached number two.

It marks the follow-up to 2006's "Neon Bible" and their 2004 debut "Funeral," which each sold about half a million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "Neon Bible" debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

The band retains a tight grip on its destiny: it owns its own recording studio, master recordings and publishing rights; licenses those rights to different labels across the globe, territory by territory; refuses corporate sponsorships, private-party gigs and most commercial placements; and calls the shots for every major decision.