Reflektor

[Nick]

So the new Arcade Fire album "Reflektor" leaked earlier today, and since it's probably my most anticipated album of the year, I thought I'd post my first impression of the album on this forum, track by track. Here we go.....

1. Reflektor- The big stomping dancefloor ready single most of us have probably heard, not much needs to be said other than it's one of Arcade Fire's best singles to date.

2. We Exist- A 6 minute long track with heavy new wave influences. I'm feeling a strong Blondie vibe or maybe even The Clash on "The Magnificent Seven". Even more dancefloor ready than "Reflektor".

3. Flashbulb Eyes- A short song (about 2:40), punctuated with odd synths, piano, and what sounds like a clip from some sort of festive movie that leads right into-

4. Here Comes the Night Time- The first part of this song rapidly speeds up, becoming increasingly chaotic, before it becomes something much more mid-tempo about 30 seconds in. At about 6 and a half minutes, this is one of my favorite songs on the album (so far). The live performances of this song didn't do it justice at all. There's something romantic about the way this song moves, with its synths and pianos and percussion. Very influenced by Haitian music, even more so than the preceding tracks. Win's voice has a weird distorted effect, not overwhelmingly so, but it's still obvious. Some of the best lyrics on the album too. At about 4:40 the tempo picks right back up, with horns and many backup vocals coming in, giving the song an even more festive feel than it already had. But a minute later, the song settles right back into its mid tempo groove, which continues right on until the end.

5. Normal Person- The "rocker" of the album. Soaring guitars accompany the chorus of Win singing about the perils of "normal people". When I first read the lyrics to this song online before I had even listened to it, I cringed. But in the context of the song, and the way that Win sings them, they sound a bit better. The only real Haitian influences I can detect on this song are the percussive parts during the bridge, along with the horns.

6. You Already Know- Probably the most upbeat song Arcade Fire have ever made. Just a total, unabashedly pop song.

7. Joan of Arc- The closing song on Side 1 of "Reflektor". A bit more dark than the previous songs. Loud percussion. Group shouted vocals and synths all over the chorus. The opening 30 seconds of the song sounded like punk rock with bagpipes before leading into something a bit more mid tempo. Regine has prominent vocal duties, but for the most part it's still Win singing.

8. Here Comes the Night Time II- Synthesized bleeps and bloops and strings open up this short song (about 2:50). This song takes the lightness and air from the original "Here Comes the Night Time" and turns it into something darker and more dramatic in less than 3 minutes.

9. Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)- Slow paced, with dramatic percussion and synths. The first of 4 songs in a row that are over 6 minutes long.

10. It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)- 3 songs into the second half of the album and it's obvious that the Haitian influences and lightheartedness that pervaded the first half of this album are pretty much gone. Distorted synths, pounding drums, and ominous feelings are what's in here now.

11. Porno- Getting some strong Joy Division vibes from the dark ominous sounds that are being explored here. Stuff like "Decades" from "Closer" immediately comes to mind. There's a strong groove here that really interests me. Perfect for playing at your local seedy nightclubs at 4 AM.

12. Afterlife- Arcade Fire have always had a thing for penultimate songs, from "Rebellion (Lies)" to No Cars Go" to "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)". And now there's "Afterlife", which follows in the tradition of placing one of the best songs from the album as the second to last track. Here, the Haitian influences come back, making for a dramatic song with a strong presence from Regine on backing vocals.

13. Supersymmetry- For starters, this song is 11 minutes long. So there's that. The whole song builds and builds, with rising synths and strings and a pulsing drumbeat for about 5 and a half minutes or so. Then at around the 6 minute mark, a new part of the song starts up, filled with subdued, swirling instruments.

Ending thoughts-

The James Murphy influences are obvious. So are the Talking Heads influences and the Haitian music influences. This is an album that wears its influences proudly on its sleeve though. Frequently danceable, always emotional. Arcade Fire have seemingly effortlessly incorporated dance music in their musical palate, and their music succeeds because of it. A great experiment that has truly paid off. In short, it's great.

Favorite songs-

"Reflektor", "We Exist", "Here Comes the Night Time", "Afterlife"

[Matski]

It will be interesting to see where the general consensus of this album ends up. So far there's been quite a scattershot of different professional views regarding it. Supposedly they were all only given one listen to it, which wouldn't help.

It's quite a busy music-listening week (Laurel Halo, Los Campesinos!, Russian Circles and White Denim all have legal, time-limited live streams up!) but with Youtube apparently streaming the album for free here I will try to squeeze it in.

[Nassim]

It will be interesting to see where the general consensus of this album ends up. So far there's been quite a scattershot of different professional views regarding it. Supposedly they were all only given one listen to it, which wouldn't help.

It seems that the press have been listening to it for at least 3 weeks now !

I'm listening to it for the first time right now, so I don't know where my final opinion will land, but I like the review from the Guardian in any case !

[irreduciblekoan]

I really really really like it. At first I didn't know what to think, and I think some of the critics who reviewed it after one listen felt the same way, and judged it based on that. I felt a little disappointed only because I wasn't immediately blown away. But the more I heard it, the better all the songs became, and the better it flowed. Songs that seemed overlong at first became perfect length. The two songs I didn't care for at first, "Porno" and "You Already Know" have both grown on me considerably. As someone who quickly got tired of The Suburbs and think it's slightly overrated, I would now call Reflektor even better than The Suburbs, and better than Neon Bible. Yes, I said it, Reflektor is my second favorite Arcade Fire album, and I say this after soaking in Reflektor for 5 listens. It's a grower, that's all.

I hope that even if the reviews are lower than deserved, the album will at least do well on EOY lists. It will be in my top 10.

[PlasticRam]

I would now call Reflektor even better than The Suburbs, and better than Neon Bible. Yes, I said it, Reflektor is my second favorite Arcade Fire album.

I agree with this. I give it 9.0/10 and I bet Pitchfork will too.

[Matski]

It seems that the press have been listening to it for at least 3 weeks now !

They may well have listened to it within the last three weeks but it seems that at least some publishers didn't give it more than a single listen, for some reason or another. DiS' were even willing to admit it.

[Henry]

I am looking forward to seeing Arcade Fire perform tomorrow. Their set will likely only be 5 songs. We'll see how many of them are from the Reflektor album.

[Nick]

Looks like the album is getting some pretty divisive reviews. Too bad about that, because "Reflektor" is seriously great. It will probably do well on the EOY lists though. Albums that are pretty divisive tend to do well on those, opposed to albums that everyone agrees are just "okay".

[PlasticRam]

I would now call Reflektor even better than The Suburbs, and better than Neon Bible. Yes, I said it, Reflektor is my second favorite Arcade Fire album.

I agree with this. I give it 9.0/10 and I bet Pitchfork will too.

9.2

Pretty impressive from me IMO...

Edit: Talking about Pitchfork, it's funny that in their Paavoharju review they say that the rap lyrics are just nonsense and out of context, even though they are all in line with the title, so like Christian bullshit actually, religious. They just say that because they don't understand Finnish. They're always like "oh yeah we're in it". No you're not, this time!!!

[Mattceinicram]

Seriously, these guys continue to blow me away. Reflektor is great! I am really pleased with the new approach they are taking with James Murphy. Also I'm loving the Haitian influences and the more punk-rockish sounds they've incorporated.

[Henry]

I am looking forward to seeing Arcade Fire perform tomorrow. Their set will likely only be 5 songs. We'll see how many of them are from the Reflektor album.

Album is now available on Spotify.

[acroamor]

I wrote this review of Reflektor for the Daily Trojan, the student newspaper of the University of Southern California, if anyone's interested:
How do you get your music? More than any other era of recorded music since Edison’s wax cylinders, the modern listener enjoys complete freedom in how they acquire music. Spotify, iTunes, piracy, radio, YouTube: the list goes on and on. However, the one format that seems to be the rarest nowadays are the “little silver discs” that Arcade Fire sings about on the title track of their newest album, Reflektor.
No matter how you first listened to Reflektor, it meant something. Whether you were browsing the web and saw a new track released, whether you watched the album’s lyric video set to 1959’s Black Orpheus, or whether you were sitting in Parkside watching Anton Corbijn’s “Reflektor” music video on mtvU, some evanescent mystery in the album’s swirling synth and abstract lyrics stuck with you. In this fragmented, electronic age, few albums hold this sort of commanding power and audacity. Reflektor brings to mind similarly massive art rock albums from the bygone days of AOR: The Wall, Tusk, and Exile on Main St. More than any of their first three albums, Arcade Fire want Reflektor to be an Artistic Statement, never minding the pretentions of that capitalization.
What exactly then are they Stating that takes an hour and fifteen minutes to say? Their first three albums tackle universal themes: family, religion, alienation. Reflektor takes aim at another: distance. The title track and album opener lambastes the social media revolution, asking “we’re still connected, but are we even friends?” The distance grows no less unbridgeable by the time of the album closer, “Supersymmetry”, when married singers Win Butler and Régine Chassagne lament that they “heard a voice like an echo / but it came from you”. In between the two, the lyrics suffer some, especially on tracks like the hard-rocking “Normal Person” where Butler lamely asks “Is anything as strange as a normal person?” But overall, the album’s lyrics gracefully depict emotions that fit just as easily a teenaged suburbanite as Orpheus and Eurydice.
The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice finds new life as the disc two centerpieces “Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)” and “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)”. Arcade Fire have often used narrative links between their songs, from the Neighborhood suite from their 2004 debut, Funeral, to the full concept album that was 2010’s The Suburbs. In these two songs, they recast the tragic Greek lovers as a young couple “born in a little town”. But even more than the Orpheus songs, the two parts of “Here Comes The Night Time” represent the true lyrical centerpieces of the album. Disc one includes the bright, dub-influenced first half which assaults the hypocrisies of missionaries such as those that travel to Haiti. Disc two’s second half takes a musical turn away from the sun and mourns “how low we go, my friends / feels like it never ends”.
The Caribbean nation of Haiti plays a larger part in this album than any other Arcade Fire album. Female lead singer Régine Chassagne comes from Haitian roots and Funeral featured the highlight track “Haiti”, but the group never truly explored the nation from a musical angle rather than a lyrical one. However, in the tour following The Suburbs, Butler and Chassagne took an extended trip to Haiti and encountered the area’s local “rara” music. The band then brought rara into their already-diverse sonic palette – an influence that rings most clearly on tracks like “Here Comes The Night Time” and “Afterlife”.
However, the biggest musical change between Reflektor and the band’s previous work is the added presence of James Murphy as producer. Murphy formerly acted as lead singer and songwriter for LCD Soundsystem, a short-lived band that released three masterpiece albums in the early 2000s and disbanded as quickly. Murphy brings his familiar styles on to Reflektor, a change that led some fans to begin calling the band Arcade Soundsystem. In proper LCD Soundsystem fashion, the average track length here is above six minutes. Also, tracks like “Porno” and “Flashbulb Eyes” feature the same odd synthesized percussion for which Murphy became famous. But most importantly, Murphy maintains Arcade Fire’s trademark layered, emotional sound and gives it a groove and a physicality.
While there may not be many little silver discs of Reflektor floating around to be listened to front-to-back, the album still represents an attempt at a singular, cohesive work: an Artistic Statement from an artist (in)famous for Artistic Statements. Even though there’s not much of a chance that you or anyone else will listen to it straightforward, there’s something beautiful and profound about these fourteen tracks. The album may not hold the highest highs of Funeral, but it easily ranks as one of the best albums of the year. Just try looking inside. God knows what you might find.

[Pierre]

I love the album, personally, the best of the few 2013 albums I had the time to listen to so far. It has flaws, but in my opinion that was expected for such a long album. My favourite songs are the two singles, "Joan of Arc", "Porno" and "Supersymmetry". I hope the EOY lists will do the album more justice than the somewhat divisive-but-overall-positive opinions critics have shown for it so far, like for the Daft Punk album.

[luvulongTIM]

Good to see that their fans aren't snobing out on them like so many before them. You know there's the "NOT AS GOOD AS THEIR DEBUT" type snobbery, the "LIKE EM LESS WITH EACH ALBUM THEY RELEASE" type snobbery (which in some cases like the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand is justifiable) and than the "NEW DECADE, NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO THEY'RE WORK WON'T COMPARE TO WHAT THEY DID THE DECADE PRIOR" type snobbery. I WAS admittedly agist but the Flaming Lips and PJ Harvey have swayed my opinion. This album is good enough for me to listen to again and again and I am liking what I hear but I also LOVE Her Space Holiday and Au Revoir Simone who are also electro synthy and dreamy but get plenty of criticism just like Reflektor...well by critics at least. So far at least: 83.6/100

[Romain]

Good to see that their fans aren't snobing out on them like so many before them. You know there's the "NOT AS GOOD AS THEIR DEBUT" type snobbery, the "LIKE EM LESS WITH EACH ALBUM THEY RELEASE" type snobbery (which in some cases like the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand is justifiable) and than the "NEW DECADE, NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO THEY'RE WORK WON'T COMPARE TO WHAT THEY DID THE DECADE PRIOR" type snobbery. I WAS admittedly agist but the Flaming Lips and PJ Harvey have swayed my opinion. This album is good enough for me to listen to again and again and I am liking what I hear but I also LOVE Her Space Holiday and Au Revoir Simone who are also electro synthy and dreamy but get plenty of criticism just like Reflektor...well by critics at least. So far at least: 83.6/100

This is exactly what I wrote on the thread "Albums of 2013" :

Arcade Fire - Reflektor 6/10 After a first and absolutely perfect album, a very great second album, a very weak third album, arcade fire just recorded his fourth and, by far, weakest album. No memorable song this time. As annoying as the last arctic monkeys for example. Where are the incredible melodies of the other albums?

Am I snob or I simply find this is an average album?

I found the suburbs not very good but there was at least some very good songs. Here, I have not found one memorable song.

On the contrary, Neon Bible had been very criticized while I find it very very good.

(excuse my english).

[DocBrown]

Am I snob or I simply find this is an average album?

I agree. Having a hard time getting into this one. But I loved The Suburbs.

[o.m.]

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/album ... r-20130927
Excellent review. Toward the end they even can't help comparing it to "Exile On Main Street"! 4,5 stars
http://www.metacritic.com/music/reflektor/arcade-fire
Mmmm, looks like the album of the year...

[Gillingham]

I wonder what Moonbeam thinks of this effort, especially because he didn't like The Suburbs at all and loved their earlier work.

Anyway, haven't heard it a lot yet, but I do like it. Their discography is becoming quite impressive.

[Jonathon]

I love Reflektor. I think it's The Arcade Fire's first major artistic leap since their debut.