Reflektor
Merge
If other albums are Frost-ian poetry, Reflektor is Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. By that I mean Arcade Fire's senior effort is dense, complex, and long. You won't get it, and I'm not a hipster saying that self-importantly; I don't get it either. It's hard to listen to: you hear the fun beats and bass lines of "We Exist," but there's something weighing you down, pulling you into any abyss of self-doubt and fear. "It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)," perhaps Arcade Fire's greatest song, is the 900-page textbook for your favorite subject in school--so many interesting and fun facts hidden beneath a metric ton of minutiae and intricate calculations. When you finish Reflektor, you have completed a great work, like sculpting David out of granite with a prison shank. You are tired from the effort, but fulfilled by the accomplishment. This album won't win many awards: it's too confusing. It won't sell as many copies as The Suburbs: it's too inaccessible. What it will do is--like Funeral did so many years ago--transform how independent, low-budget bands write and record their music. Like so many art museums, Reflektor isn't fun, but it is beautiful, and full of wonder.
