Arcade Fire has left the suburbs, and they’re not looking back.
Nearly 10 years since their first album Funeral, the sextet is happy to push into uncharted musical territory.
Not content with being typecast as a nostalgic soundtrack, the band removed itself to Haiti and Jamaica for much of the production of Reflecktor.
The result is a sound that no one could have anticipated, focused on Haitian drums, horns, and synthesizers, mingled with the thoughtful melancholy that has made Arcade Fire an indie heavyweight.
The Montreal-based band burst onto the international scene in 2004, with the breakout album Funeral, which drew upon a string of personal losses of the band members. The themes of middle class alienation, technological change, and family dysfunction resonated heavily with the band’s audience and thrust Arcade Fire into the spotlight.
Arcade Fire is an eclectic mix of nostalgia and new creative energy, and they will not allow themselves to be pinned down by fans or management.
Their new album is innovative and fresh. Elements of funk and rock blend together with the sounds of Haitian drums and background vocals from David Bowie.
The band has been adamant from the start that their albums are not compilations of singles. Reflektor takes their conceptual unity to new heights.
This album is soaked in mythological and biblical allusions. “Joan Of Arc” mocks fickle admiration, deriding followers who “first..love you, then kill you.”
It is no surprise that Orpheus, a mythic Greek poet and musician, is celebrated extensively on the album. It falls in with Arcade Fire’s immense sense of mythology, intellectualism, and the histories they present in every song.
Some may think Arcade Fire shuns their fan base, but the message of Reflektor is that the band is still going strong and creating new sounds. Patronizing audiences with predictable albums is not on their agenda.
And we can all take comfort in the fact that Arcade Fire will continue “reflecting” however they please.
Ben Felsher
Contributor
