Arcade Fire – Reflektor
All four of the Montreal-based band’s albums have been about the tension between those two words, taking up subjects like suburban isolation and the false community of religiosity, but Reflektor is larger, at least in scope, than anything Arcade Fire have done before. Of course, the stakes have been raised considerably since we’ve last heard from them: Their previous album, The Suburbs, was the unexpected winner of the Grammy for 2011’s Album of the Year. And yet, no one involved in this record sounds to be resting on the laurels of their achievements—that includes producer and LCD Soundsystem retiree James Murphy. Reflektor is a triumph, but not a victory lap; the band never sounds content enough for that. Read the full review on Pitchfork
Minor Alps – Get There
The distance that Minor Alps creates then serves to provide the listener with an emotional starting point for the band’s lyrical themes. In other words, it helps to establish what feels like a separation from a tangible reality, leaving us to feel almost trapped within the headspace of Hatfield and Caws and sharing in their sense of detachment and isolation. The listener is really only given any respite from this through the common presence of an acoustic guitar, which seems to serve as the only apparent link between this isolation and tangible reality. Read the full review on Paste
White Denim – Corsicana Lemonade
Opener “At Night In Dreams” recalls the guitar theatrics of Jailbreak era Thin Lizzy, bursting with a circular, fuzzy lead that’s both hypnotic and heavy. Lyrically, like much of White Denim’s recent output, a high proportion of Corsicana Lemonade focuses on growing older while still figuring things out. “I know you think that it’s easy to change, but it’s a symptom of age,” Petralli sings. Since the band has all passed 30 years of age and are settling down, this mindset is an ever-present cloud hanging over them. This uncertainty paints the Texas city name-dropping title track, when Petralli sings in a whispery falsetto, “couple years I may be a rich man, where it ends up I don’t really know.” Read the full review on Consequence of Sound