Arcade Fire - Reflektor

Release Date: 28 October 28
Label: Merge Records
Rating: 10/10

True art is, at best, an interpretation of an inspiration. See something that captivates, enthralls or even angers you and show others how it captivated, enthralled or angered you. This is the essence of true art. It is communication. And so the only way you can be "good" at art is to be able to effectively communicate your thoughts and feelings on a subject. Bansky does it simply and eloquently and that's why he is lauded as genius. People get him.
That's also why Arcade Fire have become the single most loved and appreciated baroque indie band of the 21st century.

On Reflektor, their fourth studio album, James Murphy helps the Canadian septet express their mixed passions for traditional Haitian rara music, the 1959 film 'Black Orpheus', veve drawings and an over-arcing theme of death and isolation. It all pulls together into an instantly recognizable, strangely alien, multi-layered universe that is nothing short of miraculously enjoyable. Murphy is very present on the album and not only does he brazenly push the band into previously uncharted areas (disco and ska?!), but he effectively holds it all together when it gets a bit wobbly and bizarre (his electronic pulses seethe and bubble beneath the less confident lyrics).

After 8 years of performing, three truly classic, lovingly honed albums and an army of awards and recognitions under their belt, Arcade Fire have actually mastered a new art. It largely involves delivering a combination of oxymoronic moods - joyful and despairing, resigned yet hoping, dark and light - all within the same song. It is something that even the Beatles, after eleven albums, only briefly and very clumsily managed to do ('A Day In The Life').
This album is nothing short of epic and goes to prove (at least to the band themselves) that art is like children: whilst it's understandable to be protective and careful of who you let shape it, it often flourishes under the guidance of a third voice. Their horizons have broadened so far beyond their roots and their interesting albeit tired source of inspiration. This is a free-spirited collaboration, a focused celebration and a purposeful communication of a time, place and feeling.
This is art.

Part I

1. Reflektor - Dub and disco?? That James Murphy. Retirement is boring, obviously. It works out well for us. His layered reverbs and pulsing bass have merged seamlessly with AF's symphonic based roots. This sounds like both LCD Soundsystem and the dark, Neon Bible Arcade Fire.Roisin still sings sweetly in Canadian French. I still have not the slightest inkling of what she's saying, but I'm on my feet and dancing, so who the hell cares? There is a LOT going on with this song, but it never feels too much. Piano's, horns, pulses, echoes, rebounds. Mythical proportions. Zeus is getting down.

2. We Exist - A 'She Works Hard For The Money' reminiscent synth bass leads the way in  this Neon Bible-esque tale about something. Honestly I wasn't really listening. Their ability to spin a yarn has not escaped them, but it's in a Studio 54 cocaine and sequins setting this time. Kinda hard to concentrate on first listen - either you listen to the production that Murphy has given, or you listen to the tales that Butler whines about. I know which one I picked.

3. Flasbulb Eyes - Oh good Lord I'm in heaven! It's Arcade Fire doing reggaeton!?! Complete with a full palette of dub and ska effects! 'What if a camera / really do / take your soul?' they play on the traditional voodoo beliefs. Further evidence that they've been on holiday in Jamaica. They need to get out more because this is undoubtedly the highlight of the album. For me. Pity it's only 2.35, not counting the 15 seconds of ambient noise

4. Here Come The Night Time I - Butler was inspired by the moment where the sun goes down in Port Au Prince, where there is no electricity and it just kind of gets dark really quickly. People run for their homes and it all gets a bit chaotic & terrifying. Until Carnivale starts a few hours later. Then it's full on, balls-to-the-wall partay! The subtlety of this track underscores it's genius. It is daytime and nightime at once. Light and dark. Celebration and dread. You are getting your Haitian freak ON! Even though Butler just said 'If you want hell, try looking inside'. Woo hoo!!!

5. Normal Person - Murphy intros the rockiest moment on the record. Backed up with traditional Haitian percussion, this is more of the mixing wizardry that only super-producers are capable. This is no Greek tragedy or over rated froth. This is the real thing.

6. You Already Know - This seemingly swings out of left-field with it's almost Hall & Oats happiness. A few echoes on vocals and unusual filters on Butler's guitar parts keep it all in the same area as the stuff before, but the tone of this one just seems a bit Toothpaste Commercial.

7. Joan Of Arc - It's very fitting that a band like AF would use Joan of Arc as inspiration. For anyone else it would all seem a bit pithy and sad. It's not the greatest lyrical or musical moment, but that's where the producers have worked their magic. The production tones don't let down and keep the interest here. It's a save. And it closes the first act perfectly.

Part II

1. Here Comes The Night Time II - Actually written before 'Here Comes The Night I', this is a softer sound with less electric interference and more of the symphonic sound the band are so adept at. This is the pre-dawn greyness where the streets are littered with feathers and empty bottles and the only ones still awake are heavily hungover.

2. Awful Sound  (Oh Eurydice) - That mood continues with go-go dancer dragging his feet home in the 5 am aftermath. Regret filled, headache suffering and sleep driven, this is a track, like the entire album, captures a moment and streams a point of inspiration beautifully.

3. It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus) - Proving, like they did on The Suburbs with 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' that they are able to create something simple and inexplicably catchy, AF repeat their mastery on this track. Perhaps the simplest, most sentimental and catchiest moment on the album. Of course there are more than the average amount of layers and tones to this song. Continuing with his core theme of isolation and death, there is despair and resignation in this, but it is not remote or depressing. You just kind of get it.

4. Porno - Murphy is back in the driver's seat for this one and if I didn't know it was on an Arcade Fire record, I would have thought it was an LCD Soundsystem offering. That in no way is a bad thing. Slow, moody, building and slightly dangerous. A song that is here to temper the others. Still a superb slice of studio mastery. Strings and keys somehow creep their way into the mix without getting lost under the other effects.

5. Afterlife - Sticking with the same themes, joy and despair are woven together in a palatable package bound by yards of synth. 'Afterlife', with it's balance of lyrical narrative and expertly combined instrumentations, could be the image of the album - like this is what it's all about. Truly great albums have a song that says exactly that - 'this is what I meant'. Usually it's the lead single, but in this case I feel this is the track that says it. Absolute genius.

6. Supersymmetry - 'I know you're living in my mind / it's not the same as being alive'. 75 minutes of ecstatic impulse play out with a beautiful subtlety, with us wondering if this band is really too good to be true.
WVS.

The clan without a sigil, Arcade Fire Army also stipulated uniform optional.