Canadian indie rock band, Acarde Fire, dropped their latest effort, “Reflektor,” along with most of the musical characteristics that made them as acclaimed as they are today.

Arcade Fire has been revered as one of the most innovative bands in indie rock. With their albums “Funeral,” “Neon Bible” and “The Suburbs,” Arcade Fire is known for ambitious arrangements of musical instruments that create seas of sound so that front man, Win Butler, may soar over with emotional vocals and poetic lyrics. 

However, with this new effort came a new direction. We find the Montreal indie rock titans engaging in some indie electronica and that is totally understandable given that the talented James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is credited as a main producer for this album. Apart from the direct influence from Murphy, Arcade Fire displays some Talking Heads worship as can be easily found in the lead single and title track, “Reflektor.” 

Reflektor starts with an insatiable groove, which is a reoccurring theme throughout this album, and evolves into a an alternative dance frenzy with chorus tinged vocals and one liners like “if this is heaven then I need something more.” Definitely a standout track amidst the bunch. 

The second track, “We Exist,” is also one of my favorites, dealing with the contemplation of life and purpose. It opens with some eerie vocals among reversing phrases of music. Lyrically this track stands out, hinting towards topics pertaining to pluralism but musically it does get a bit monotonous after a few listens which unfortunately, seems to be the cancerous symptoms of a handful of these tracks. 

It feels as though, I either feel totally enamored by a track such as “Porno” and “Normal Person” or I’m bored ad nauseum by tracks such as “Flashbulb Eyes.” Given that this album is a double LP, another notch of ambition for Arcade Fire, I delved into this piece of work and felt strongly about it however, towards the backside of this LP, it begins to meander and become a bit self indulgent. 

I am not about to extol the band due to their flawless track record (literally) nor be daunted by saying that I was not fully in love with this album. Butler did come through with some spectacular lyrics like always but this album fell short musically.

Unless you are a die hard Arcade Fire fan, I would not recommend this album to you nor to listeners trying to get into Arcade Fire or indie rock in general. Instead, I detour you to their earlier work as listed above and if you want to delve deeper into the genre, listen to “Doolittle” by The Pixies or Pavement’s “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain.” 

2.5/5