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Win Butler: new Arcade Fire album is “a mash up of Studio 54 and Haitian voodoo”

Arcade Fire's Win Butler has described the band's new album Reflektor as a "mash up of Studio 54 and Haitian voodoo." The frontman shed further light on the band's forthcoming album, due for release in October, during an interview with Zane Lowe on Radio 1 that aired last night (September 11). In the interview, Butler discussed the sound of the double album and also revealed some new touring members of the band who will join Arcade Fire on the road when they come to tour Reflektor.

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Arcade Fire’s Win Butler has described the band’s new album Reflektor as a “mash up of Studio 54 and Haitian voodoo.”

The frontman shed further light on the band’s forthcoming album, due for release in October, during an interview with Zane Lowe on Radio 1 that aired last night (September 11). In the interview, Butler discussed the sound of the double album and also revealed some new touring members of the band who will join Arcade Fire on the road when they come to tour Reflektor.

Discussing how the band had Arcade Fire had the first ideas for Reflektor when playing a gig in rural Haiti, to “People who had never heard The Beatles before,” and were therefore “stripped of context”. This, Butler said, has led the group to making a more rhythmic album, with the frontman noting the “voodoo rhythms” of their new music. A similar trip to Jamaica with producer Markus Dravs was also mentioned in the interview.

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Describing the band’s new songs as a “mash up of Studio 54 and Haitian voodoo,” Butler also discussed his joy at the music landscape in 2013 being less tied to genre boundaries. “To me the joy of making music in 2013 is you’re allowed to like Sex Pistols and ABBA and that’s fine,” he said. “It’s such an explosion, anything that’s good rises to the top, and we want music that respects that.”

Butler later confirmed that two Haitian percussionists will be touring with the band when they come to play shows around Reflektor. “It does something really magical to the rhythm section,” Butler said of the percussionists, “[these] deep African voodoo rhythms are the language in Haiti, [they’re] basically how people communicate.”

Details of the Montreal group’s fourth album and world tour were revealed on Monday night (September 9) in a series of posts on the band’s website. The same night, the band “launched their “Reflektor” single with a surprise show in Montreal, playing the small Salsatheque venue under the alias The Reflektors.

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Pre-orders for the Reflektor double album have opened up at Arcadefire.com, with the website stating that early orders will come with first access to ticket sales for special shows as well as the band’s forthcoming world tour.

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