Initial reflektions
by Steve
So, as you’ve probably heard, Arcade Fire last night released onto the internet the first song from their new album. You’ve probably not only heard this fact, but have heard the song, and read a bunch of blogs and tweets debating it. And yet I still can’t resist adding my £0.02/$0.02. I like to add to the noise.
Arcade Fire have often been more about the build of a song than just a traditional song structure. While they’ve never completely ignored the standard verse/chorus/verse structure, there has often been more of an ebb and flow, from early songs such as No Cars Go, to Neighbourhood #1 to Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains). There is a locked-in rhythm, a momentum, and often some sort of release.
Reflektor seems to be very much a progression in this style. However, now the ‘build’ is more a groove, yet there is still a certain tension and terseness to it. You can tell it is a James Murphy production. While it isn’t quite Arcade Fire Go Hipster Dance, there is a near-funkiness to the track. This could be embarrassing, yet the band and producer play it pretty much perfectly – maintaining a restraint and control so that the song doesn’t descend into camp, yet adding enough layers and hooks to keep things interesting over seven-plus minutes.
It is a promising opening salvo from the band and Murphy. I’m certainly intrigued by the rest of the album. I just hope there is a degree of light and shade. I like that the band have subtly changed their sound and approach with each album without losing whatever makes them unique, but I hope there is enough variation to keep the whole album engaging, and to hopefully even point to what might come next.
A nice understated cameo from David Bowie too. Not easy to have a celebrity guest spot and not make it awful.
This new sound, while obviously LCD Soundsystem-esque also seems to be indebted to Bowie’s Berlin days, and those Talking Heads comparisons aren’t going away either. But while you can certainly spot influences and reference points it is still very much an Arcade Fire song. I guess that is one reason why they are so successful – you can recognise them right away, no matter what direction they take.
The promotional activities have been fun too. It is rare that an album release can still feel like an event. This album will probably be one of those occasions.
Wait until next year 
I’m cautiously optimistic. I loved their first two albums, but The Suburbs felt like a double album concept with an EP’s worth of good material. If the first song is any indication, they’re not just running a Grammy victory lap.
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When I think about Arcade Fire I often hear a little voice in my head telling me “It might be good, but it will never be as good as their first album” but I try to ignore it and just be pleased that they have purposefully tried to avoid just remaking Funeral every two years and are at least trying something different.
I also think each of their albums have at least some filler, so I’d apply the EP comment to everything they have done. They are just lucky that their best songs carry the weaker ones with each release. And I say that as someone who thinks Funeral is up there as one of the best albums of the last 25 years, and has The Suburbs and Neon Bible not too far behind.
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I’ll have to give it another chance one of these days. My main gripe with the album is that bemoaning the sprawl and soullessness of suburbia just seems like low-hanging fruit. And maybe fifteen years ago the album would have made more sense, but it came out around the time of the US’s economic/housing meltdown, when for many people moving to the suburbs became as more of an economic necessity than a lifestyle choice.
Of course at the time the album came out, I was living in the most isolated part of the country, so maybe it just didn’t click with where I was physically and mentally. Now that I’m back in a larger town, maybe I’ll see something beyond the album’s broad strokes.
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I think they have increasingly gone for broad strokes and that has been their weakness. The first album had this mystery and romance and charm. Neon Bible was good, but a little basic and preachy in places, while The Suburbs lacked nuance at times. It feels like there is a constant internal struggle between being anthemic and appealing to the masses, and being more obscure and obtuse. That tension has created some great moments, but also a fair few misses.
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I saw them live when they were promoting the album, and they were epic as ever. Their broad strokes do feel a little trite on headphones, but like their fellow epic rockers U2 and Bruce Springsteen, it translates really, really well when they’re singing to the back row. If you haven’t seen them yet, you should!
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I’ve seen them a couple of times and loved them. The last one was an arena gig and it did translate really well. It’s a good point!
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