Arcade Fire, Canadian Indie Rock band is releasing their fourth studio album titled Reflektor. The album drops October 29.
As a prelude to the album, the band has also released a video for their single “Reflektor,” which happens to be a grand combination of their new sound and astonishing visuals. The director of the video is Anton Corbijn, who also happens to be a creative director behind the videos of Depeche Mode and U2. The black & white video starts off with band leaving a garage with enormous masks covering their faces. They get on the truck and drive through the darkness of the forest road, which goes perfectly with the lyrics: “Trapped in a prism, in a prism of light. Alone in the darkness, darkness of white…” Régine Chassagne, one of the founding members of Arcade Fire leads us into the darkness softly singing: “Entre la nuit, la nuit et l'aurore. Entre le royaume, des vivants et des morts.” (Between the night, night and dawn. Between the kingdom of the living and the dead). It is then that the video turns into the play of darkness and light, reality and reflection. We meet the “mirror man” on the road and the band then starts using different reflecting objects, such as disco balls and broken mirrors to cast the light onto themselves. They also experience a “Narcissus moment” as they stare into their reflection on the pond. The truck that the lead singer Win Butler is driving accompanied by Chassagne has “nine” written on the back. The number nine goes along with the lyrics that say: “We fell in love when I was nineteen…” And the video ends just as it started.
The band wanted to go a step further with the visuals, so they have joined forces with Canadian director Vincent Morisset to create an interactive artistic project. The “virtual projection” can be found on their official website. It allows you to interact with the video by using your webcam on your laptop, smartphone or tablet. Another option is the mouse. I must admit that I love the project. It is fun and it complements the official video and the song. Try it out here!
Now, lets move on to the band’s new sound. “Reflektor” is definitely quite different from anything we heard on their third studio album, The Suburbs. Songs on The Suburbs are more upbeat and more baroque pop. "Reflektor" definitely sticks to band's Indie Rock roots, but it is a much darker track if you ask me. The drums are coming to the fore in this one. According to pitchfork.com, Butler has revealed in an interview withBBC’s Radio 1’s Zane Lowe that “Reflektor” was inspired by their trip to Haiti two years ago, and that’s why their new music has “voodoo rhythms.”
All in all, I am very happy that the band has decided to experiment with their sound, because the result is more than satisfying. I am very excited to hear the other songs when the album comes out. And with the “Reflektor,” now I know what to look forward to. This is a track that slowly grows on you and it is a masterpiece both visually and sound wise.
Check it out! Let me know what you think!
Image: Amazon