Reflektor
Arcade Fire
Released by Merge Records
Arcade Fire beautifully illustrate the dystopia of modern society once more on their fourth studio album, Reflektor.
While they still may be the most obscure famous band in the world, the spotlights have undoubtedly been turned towards Arcade Fire after 2010’s The Suburbs won a Grammy for album of the year, as well as the Polaris prize and a handful more awards.
To follow up such success, the band broke out a sprawling double album that draws on everything from traditional Haitian music to 19th-century philosophy and greek mythology as the band approaches massive fame for the first time.
Musically and thematically, the album is everything that Arcade Fire has become known for. The band layers rhythms upon themselves throughout the album, featuring Haitian influenced percussion, new wave basslines and synthesizers, and even some moments that sound downright punk rock.
Lyrically, many of the themes from the band’s body of work have carried onto the new album, particularly the concept of isolation in the age of connectedness and criticisms of popular religion. The album continually questions how we go about living our lives in the digital age and what the human experience truly is in modern society.
This is clear from the first song on the album, “Reflektor,” in which lead singer Win Butler sings “we’re so connected, but are we even friends?” The song also features Régine Chassagne backing up with French wordplay. Despite the intensity of the subject matter, the music grooves along with a funky bassline and an ear-worm of a chorus.
“Here Comes the Night Time” is where the Haitian influence becomes most clear through syncopated percussion parts that seem to beg you to dance. Meanwhile, Butler takes on the commercialization of religion once more, singing “now the preachers they talk up on the satellite/If you’re looking for hell, just try looking inside.”
“Normal Person” starts calm with Butler singing “is anything as strange as a normal person/Is anyone as cruel as a normal person?” before exploding into a hard rock chorus complete with a squealing guitar and heavy distortion, becoming what might be the most fun song on the album.
On the second disc, the band draws on the Greek myth of Orpheus to guide a pair of songs in “Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)” and “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus).” The former has a mythical, calming melody, carrying out on a chorus of la-la-las. “It’s Never Over” provides the heartbeat for the second disc of the album with an intensity carried through a series of rises and falls.
The hidden gem of the album is “You Already Know,” which features despondent lyrics behind an inspired, upbeat song.
Reflektor relentlessly takes on the assimilation of culture and society’s way of normalizing people. The symbol of the mirror has appeared throughout Arcade Fire’s career, and it is now fully fleshed out, as they say that the world is “just a reflection of a reflection.”
It seems that Arcade Fire’s fourth album could be the most important of their career. The double album entertains throughout its entire 80 minutes with stellar music and poignant lyricism. Arcade Fire are on top of their game, and could very well be the best band in the world right now.
