ReflektorTaking on a British ‘90s vibe, this incarnation of the band has more colour than ever – but don’t expect as much social comment in the lyrics.

Label: Sonovox
Time: 13 Tracks / 75 minutes

“Each time we’ve made a record, the band could easily have been called… The Neon Bibles, The Suburbs... It’s almost as if we are launching a new band every time; that’s how we’ve always approached it,” Arcade Fire’s Win Butler tells Rainn Wilson (http://pitchfork.com/news/53468-watch-rainn-wilson-interviews-arcade-fires-win-butler-in-the-back-of-a-van/).This one certainly changes style.

On the first few listens, there is so much going on that it is hard to tell where each layer stops and another starts. Synths bubble away, loops loop along and the conventional rhythm section merges into electronica. I even wondered whether these new songs could be played live.The band soon put paid to that question, showing how easily they work in front of a crowd, but by then the songs’ bones had begun to show through the production clothes that they were wearing. It is the best of both worlds: the songs’ colourful treatments add a lot, but they would often stand on their own without the extra layers. The choruses often wear big boots.

Co-produced between the band and LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, there is a substantial groove from start to finish. Sometimes it takes on a rock hue, sometime a shade of pop or reggae, but the album’s substance is a pylonful of electronica. The title track represents it well, not just because it has the addictive grooves that form most of the set, but because the cameo appearance of David Bowie is a more tangible form of Major Tom’s presence that orbits both discs. There are also generous splashes of New Order, LCD Soundsystem and Talking Heads in the mix and a (coincidental?) OMD sound to “Joan of Arc.”

Hooks? Yes, they are there, although not as instant as (for example) “The Sprawl II” from The Suburbs. Most tracks have something that keeps them in your head, especially “Reflektor”. “Normal Person” has vocal hooks and breaks out into a tongue-in-cheek lead guitar riff; while “Here Comes the Night Time” has its plinky-plonk piano riff to add to its experimental approach, drastic speed changes coming from nowhere and reverting again. The release only starts to run out of steam around the predictably shallow “Porno” and on the final piece, which ends in a very lengthy fade out of noodling (and why not? It’s better than nothing).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E0fVfectDo

Unlike some previous work, there is little in the way of insightful social comment. It’s as if they have been there and want to lighten up; the lyrics seem ambiguous at best. Allegedly the title reflects the (unnecessarily) double album idea, where each disc reflects the other, but if this is the case I cannot see how. “Here Comes the Night Time II” doesn’t even match “Here Comes the Night Time,” either in its tune or place in the running order.

But that doesn’t matter. This is predominantly a dance album filled with grooves. It is vibrant and laughs in the face of the critics who have panned it. Play The Suburbs afterwards and you will be able to hear that fade to grey in comparison.

4tocks
Derek Walker
http://walkerwords.wordpress.com

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