Reflektor in Bloomington, MN

After stunning the mainstream pop machine into a state of huffy, new school e-disbelief by beating out
Eminem
,
Lady Antebellum
Lady Gaga
, and
Katy Perry
for the 2011 Album of the year Grammy,
Arcade Fire
seemed poised for a
U2
-style international coup, but the
Suburbs
, despite its stadium-ready sonic grandiosity, was far too homespun and idiosyncratic to infect the masses in the same way as the
Joshua Tree
or
Achtung Baby
.
Reflektor
, the collective's much anticipated fourth long-player and first double-album, moves the group even further from pop culture sanctification with a seismic 13-track set that guts the building but leaves the roof intact. Going big was never going to be a problem, especially for a band so well versed in the art of anthem husbandry, and they're still capable of shaking the rafters, as evidenced by the cool and circuitous,
Roxy Music
-forged,
David Bowie
-assisted title cut, the lush,
Regine Chassagne
-led "It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)," and the impossibly dense and meaty "We Exist." ~ James Christopher Monger