Music Video: Interactivity abounds in The Arcade Fire's Reflektor promo

The Arcade Fire are back with a new track and in customary style they’re making the video process as complicated as possible. While most bands deem one promotional video to be sufficient for their requirements Canada’s biggest band has released two; one an interactive epic that seems to have involved everyone at Google Labs if the behind-the-scenes video is anything to go by, the other a dark piece of film noir directed by the legendary Anton Corbijn. And why the heck not eh? If you’re at the height of your creative powers and commercial success get as many videos made as you like.

The first official video for Reflektor (you can watch it here) follows on from where The Wilderness Downtown left off, incorporating interactive elements controlled with your smartphone or mouse and others that utilise webcam, dragging your confused face right into the heart of the action. On first impressions it’s moved on apace from their previous video, most likely due to improvements in technology, but also because the interactivity feels like it belongs in the film rather than simply existing as a neat little gimmick.

By contrast Corbijn’s film is as simple as it gets; moody monochrome shots of the band crossing rural landscapes in a military van, led by a Freddy Kreuger-esque disco lord. It’s what Corbijn does best and should satisfy you sufficiently if you’re not Chrome-equipped to enjoy the first video. In fact, it might even be better as far as cinematic experience goes.