It was weird. If you were following the indie rock grapevine back in 2012 and 2013, everything about the lead-up to Reflektor felt like a coded message from a basement in Montreal. You might remember the chalk drawings appearing on city walls—those strange, interlocking circles. People were obsessed. But buried beneath the disco-ball-and-marching-band hype of that era was a specific, darker aesthetic that never quite took center stage. We’re talking about the Arcade Fire Year of the Snake era, a period of transition that defines the band’s shift from the anthemic, suburban yearning of The Suburbs into the sprawling, Haitian-inspired dance-rock of their fourth studio album.
Honestly, most fans just see the "Year of the Snake" as a cool logo on a t-shirt or a 12-inch vinyl sleeve. But it’s more than that. It represents the exact moment Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, and the rest of the crew decided to blow up their own sound.
Why the 2013 Lunar New Year Mattered
Timing is everything in music. When Arcade Fire began teasing their return, the 2013 Lunar New Year (the Year of the Water Snake) was just kicking off. This wasn't just some random aesthetic choice. The band has always been obsessed with cycles, rebirth, and the intersection of different cultures. Think back to their trip to Haiti. After the massive success of The Suburbs winning Album of the Year at the Grammys, they didn't want to repeat themselves. They were looking for something "slippery."
The snake is a symbol of transformation. Shedding skin. That’s basically what they were doing in the studio with James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. They were shedding the "indie darling" skin to become something weirder.
People often forget how divisive this was at the time. You had fans who just wanted Funeral 2.0. Instead, they got a nine-minute title track and a bunch of masks made of papier-mâché. The Arcade Fire Year of the Snake imagery—specifically that sleek, stylized serpent—was the first warning shot that the old Arcade Fire was dead.
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The Murphy Influence and the Sound of the Shedding Skin
If you listen to the stems of the Reflektor sessions, you can hear the "Snake" influence. It’s in the percussion. It’s thin, rattling, and constant. James Murphy brought this New York "cool" to a band that was previously known for being earnest to a fault. They recorded in New Orleans. They recorded in Jamaica. They recorded at Trident in London.
The sessions were messy. Some reports from that time suggested they had over 50 songs in various states of completion. The "Year of the Snake" was essentially the working title for the vibe of the first half of those sessions. It was darker than what ended up on the radio. It was more industrial.
- The Percussion: They stopped using standard rock kits for half the tracks. Instead, they used "found" percussion and steel drums, mimicking the slithering, rhythmic nature of the snake.
- The Lyrics: Win started writing about isolation in the digital age. This would eventually become the core of Everything Now years later, but the seeds were planted here.
- The Visuals: Anton Corbijn was brought in. His black-and-white photography captured the band in these "Snake" masks, looking less like a family band and more like a cult.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Branding
A common misconception is that the "Year of the Snake" was an abandoned album title. It wasn't. It was a temporal marker. In many interviews during the Reflektor tour, Butler mentioned that the record was a "nighttime" album. The snake imagery served as the mascot for that transition into the dark.
It’s also worth noting the connection to Orpheus and Eurydice. The whole album is a concept piece about that myth. How does Eurydice die in the myth? She’s bitten by a snake.
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See? It all loops back. The Arcade Fire Year of the Snake isn't just a merch design; it's the literal catalyst for the album's narrative arc. No snake bite, no journey to the underworld. No journey to the underworld, no double album with David Bowie doing backing vocals on the lead single.
The Rarity of the Physical Media
If you’re a collector, you know the struggle. The "Year of the Snake" limited edition merch is some of the hardest stuff to find. There were specific shirts sold during the "The Reflektors" secret shows—those tiny club dates where you had to wear formal attire or a costume to get in.
I talked to a guy once who went to the Brooklyn show at 299 Meserole St. He said the band didn't even go by Arcade Fire. They were "The Reflektors." The snake logo was everywhere. It felt like a secret society. If you find one of those original 2013 snake-print shirts in a thrift store, buy it. It's a piece of indie history from the last time a rock band felt truly "mysterious" before social media spoiled everything.
The Legacy of the Snake
Why does this still matter in 2026? Because Arcade Fire is in a weird spot now. After the controversies and the mixed reception of WE, fans are looking back at the Reflektor era as the last time the band was truly at the peak of their creative powers. The "Year of the Snake" represents their most successful risk. They took a Grammy-winning formula and threw it in the trash to make a disco-funk record about Greek mythology.
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It was bold. It was kind of pretentious. It was definitely long. But it was them.
How to Deep Dive Into This Era Today
If you want to experience the "Year of the Snake" vibe properly, don't just stream the album on shuffle. That’s a mistake.
- Watch 'The Reflektor Tapes': This documentary by Kahlil Joseph is the best visual representation of the snake era. It’s non-linear and hypnotic.
- Listen to the 'Flashbulb Eyes' Dub Version: It captures the humid, rattling sound that defined the 2013 sessions better than the album version.
- Track down the 'Afterlife' 12-inch: The artwork is the peak of this aesthetic.
The Arcade Fire Year of the Snake era was a fever dream. It was the moment the band stopped trying to be the "voice of a generation" and started trying to be a dance band from a different planet. Whether they succeeded is up for debate, but you can't deny the commitment to the bit.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors:
To truly understand the sonic shift of this period, listen to the transition between The Suburbs (the song) and Reflektor (the song) back-to-back. Notice the lack of acoustic guitar in the latter. For collectors, prioritize the 12-inch singles released between February and September 2013, as these contain the specific "Snake" iconography that was phased out once the "Reflektor" prism became the primary marketing image. If you are looking for the "Snake" sound in their newer work, listen to the polyrhythms in WE—specifically the track "Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)"—which serves as a direct spiritual successor to the rattling, serpentine percussion of the 2013 sessions.