Arcade Fire is one of the best bands making music today. Their fierce pursuit of vital and original art has not been swayed by increasing mainstream success. As much as independent music fans get trashed for saying so, we’ve all seen one too many beloved band lose their way as their success increased. The early cuts from Arcade Fire’s new album Reflektor are as good as anything the band has done, but take their sound in a whole new direction. We haven’t written about any of the hype surrounded the album: the “leaked” artwork, tracklisting, and first single; the $5,000 ticket prices; the first video. And that’s not because we didn’t love it all, it’s just that we assume everyone who wants to see it has already seen it on SPIN, NME, Paste, Pitchfork, etc. Well we’re finally breaking down today. Here’s the newest video from the band for their song “Afterlife.” There’s everything in the world to love about this song but our favorite is the careful melodic shifts in the chorus. Enjoy.