Arcade Fire review - Reflektor

Arcade Fire review - Reflektor

Arcade Fire 

Double albums are always a risk. There's the chance of it being too long and not quite up to scratch, or of one side being significantly better than the other. Thankfully though, with new album 'Reflektor', Arcade Fire have managed to get the balance between quantity and quality just right. The title track and first single, which also kicks off the album, was an initial hint at the pure excellence of the band's fourth record. Sounding like classic Arcade Fire yet with a Daft Punk slant, it features long time friend and fan David Bowie and clocks in at an epic 7:34. It is the danciest they've ever sounded and a change like this could have been a big mistake, but in true Arcade Fire fashion, they've pulled it off. The whole first side has this kind of experimental aspect to it: Michael Jackson style funk on 'We Exist', the mechanical build of 'Flashbulb Eyes', the frustration throughout personal favourite 'Normal Person' and a reggae beat on 'Here Comes The Night Time' - it's as though they've become a completely different band in the three years since last album 'The Suburbs', but it works.

Eurydice and Orpheus on the
 'Reflektor' cover

Side two of the album starts with 'Here Comes The Night Time II'. A slow burner, it contrasts the slightly rushed sound of side one, and could be considered a strange choice for midway through a record. However, things are picked up again by the next two tracks, the anthemic 'Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)' and 'It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)', the names coming from Greek legend and being those of the statue on the album artwork. The latter dabbles with dubstep, effectively I might add, and ends with Win and wife Regine taking on the roles of Orpheus and Eurydice respectively and singing "it's over too soon." Perhaps, but it makes way for the brilliant synths and gloomy vocals of next track and side two highlight 'Porno' and the desperate cries of "Can we work it out?" in 'Afterlife'. The end of the album feels like the end of a feature length film. Final track 'Supersymmetry' is a whopping 11:14 long, yet the vast majority of that is unnecessary; faint wailing guitars that sound like the music which plays over the end credits after the soundtrack has finished. On reflection though, Jonathan Ross was right when he introduced the band on his show years ago, in a clip used before sixth track 'You Already Know'. Arcade Fire were fantastic, and as this album proves, they very much still are. Written by Molly McGrath

9/10

Get 'Reflektor' here: http://arcadefire.com/reflektorpreorder/eu/