Arcade Fire came back with much anticipation October 28 with the band’s fourth studio album Reflektor. Critics and fans alike loved it, the album is a success. I gave it a listen and all I could simply think is “Eh”.
I like the band and I’m a fan of their previous releases. As the band has admitted, this is a concept album where the band is testing new waters. A guerilla marketing campaign was placed to promote the release, yet I think it’s only okay. I can’t get into it in much detail as a simple listen through that didn’t really get me going. I don’t get the hype that it’s received, but of course that’s my own opinion.
Reflektor is a double album from this Canadian indie-rock band. The album was co-produced by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy along with Arcade Fire themselves and usual producer for the band Markus Dravs. This album has been influenced by the band’s experience in a trip to Haiti. Frontman Win Butler in an interview with Rolling Stone mentioned, “Well, going to Haiti for the first time with Regine was the beginning of a major change in the way that I thought about the world. Usually, I think you have most of your musical influences locked down by the time you're 16. There was a band I felt like changed me musically [in Haiti], just really opened me up to this huge, vast amount of culture and influence I hadn't been exposed to before, which was really life-changing.” This might explain the transition in sound from Arcade Fire’s previous release The Suburbs.
The lead single and title track off of Reflektor is of course “Reflektor”, has a disco element to it, and it’s an alright song, but I just couldn’t get into it. I actually felt the best track off the album was the last track of disc one “Joan of Arc”. This song has a nice vintage melody to go along with a hint of even light punk. “Normal Person” is also decent also, I feel like the instrumentals overpower the vocals and lyrics, but I think that’s what I like about the track.
Not everybody will agree, but I’m not big on the album. It’s not bad, but it’s also not very good. But who am I, give it a listen and see how you feel about it.
Arcade Fire – “Reflektor”: