Album of the Week: Arcade Fire - "Reflektor"

Rating: 9.7/10

"Do you like rock and roll music?" asks Win Butler at the beginning of "Normal Person," before answering his own question with a half-hearted "'cause I don't know if I do." It's a fair question to ask, based on the way Reflektor sounds. For their fourth record, Arcade Fire have ditched their former anthemic indie style for a synthed-out, danceable, new-wave direction for the majority of the new tunes. Guitars do not play nearly as large a role on Reflektor as they did on any of the band's previous three releases; the same can be said about violins. Instead, the samba-influenced drum beats have moved to the forefront, giving several songs an upbeat, exhilarating pace. Butler told Rolling Stone last week that the band "just wanted to make a record Regine could dance to." The thirteen-track double album sounds like a party all the way through, though it's lyrics tell a different story.

Fall Music Preview

2013 has been a year full of excellent album releases, and that pattern looks set to continue with a bevy or promising records set to drop in the upcoming months. Just some of the artists putting out new releases this fall include:

Grouplove (Sept. 17th)
The Naked and Famous (Sept. 17th)
Chvrches (Sept. 24th)
Deer Tick (Sept. 24th)
Kings of Leon (Sept. 24th)
Mazzy Star (Sept. 24th)
HAIM (Sept. 30th)
Lorde (Oct. 1st)
Moby (Oct. 1st)
Yuck (Oct. 1st)
Cage the Elephant (Oct. 8th)
Cults (Oct. 15th)
Pearl Jam (Oct. 15th)
TLC (Oct. 15th)
Best Coast (Oct. 22nd)
Arcade Fire (Oct. 29th)
Cut Copy (Nov. 5th)
MIA (Nov. 5th)

Cloud Nothings also may or may not be releasing something at the tail end of the year, but we'll have to wait and see whether they or anybody else surprises us and drops a new album before 2013 is up.

To get you geared up for this slew of upcoming new music, preview some of the albums mentioned by listening to a few of the lead singles below. You can also find a complete list of anticipated releases here, courtesy of Metacritic.