Arcade Fire connects on latest album

Photo courtesy of npr.org Arcade Fire’s latest album, “Reflektor” draws inspiration from the band’s life-changing trips to Haiti and Jamaica. Those influences are prevalent in the band’s fourth studio album.
Photo courtesy of npr.org
Arcade Fire’s latest album, “Reflektor” draws inspiration from the band’s life-changing trips to Haiti and Jamaica. Those influences are prevalent in the band’s fourth studio album.

“Reflektor,” Arcade Fire’s fourth studio album, is the kind of album where all I want to do is listen to it on my record player, lying in my bed, doing nothing but taking in what the band has created for my listening pleasure.

There are so many different parts of this album, so many voices that come together which would be amazing to hear on vinyl – in its purest form.

The two-disc album begins with the title track “Reflektor.” The song has a disco-esque beat to it, different from traditional Arcade Fire tracks.

The tune sets a theme that is heard throughout the album.

By the time the final track “Supersymmetry” plays, you realize how well the album is tied together. It’s symmetric.

Although the album has an upbeat sound to it, the words behind the music reach something deeper and more meaningful relating back to the band’s time spent in Haiti and Jamaica. You can hear those influences in different tracks on the album.

“I was learning from what I saw and applying it to my own life, lyrically,” lead singer Win Butler told Rolling Stone. “I’m not trying to tell other people’s stories. We’re just trying to allow an experience to change you.”

What is great about Arcade Fire is how connected the members are to one another.

Just by listening to this album, you can tell how in sync they are – the way they harmonize together – and that’s not just because singers Butler and Regine Chassagne are married.

There is so much going on in this album that could very well turn people away. Putting different sounds together, even different genres, can be disastrous.

But, “Reflektor” is so carefully crafted, with the help of co-producer, James Murphy of LCD Sound system, that it draws the listener in rather than pushing them away.

 

Story by Savannah Sawyer, Features Editor

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