It’s nearly a decade since Arcade Fire emerged fully-formed with Funeral, that strange and sombre debut album which has since become something of a modern classic. Although they have arguably never bettered it, their subsequent efforts have tended to put other indie bands to shame. In 2010, The Suburbs showed us that the Canadian sextet could produce confident, catchy crowd-pleasers when they wanted to (‘Ready To Start’, ‘We Used To Wait’ etc). Now, the double-album Reflektor shows them making a titanic effort to stay cutting-edge - and not everything they throw at the wall sticks.

For the album’s strengths and flaws, one need look no further than the opening title track. ‘Reflektor’ is a funky, polished mission statement, all grooving synth riffs, sexy French vocals and bongos - we’re a long way from Funeral. It’s infectious, yes, and undoubtedly ambitious. But is that enough to justify its seven-and-a-half-minute running time? Or a David Bowie cameo so fleeting that you could sneeze and miss it? The emperor is not quite naked, but his clothes aren’t quite as dazzling as Arcade Fire reckon they are.

Sonically, Reflektor is covered in the fingerprints of co-producer James Murphy, of LCD Soundsystem fame. It’s thanks to him, I assume, that the tracks are aimed more sharply at the dancefloor than anything Arcade Fire have done before. But Murphy wields a box of tricks that often distract from, rather than enhance, individual songs: frontman Win Butler may enjoy reflecting on his own fame, but I’m not sure we need this rammed home by the Jonathan Ross clip that bookends ‘You Already Know’: "we have fabulous music from the fantastic … Arcade Fwoarire!". On ‘Flashbulb Eyes’, the production team get a bit overenthusiastic with their blips, whirs and delay effects, muddying an otherwise intriguing foray into dub-inspired bass territory.

The irony for such a self-consciously forward-looking album is that its strongest moments come when the band summon some of the tenderness of their earlier work. The penultimate track ‘Afterlife’ is basically a requiem for a fading love, its refrain: "Can we work it out? / Scream and shout till we work it out?’" expressed with a sincerity that comes as a relief after so much cleverness.

We need bands to experiment, and Reflektor marks Arcade Fire’s latest stage in a musical evolution which has never been less than compelling. Nonetheless, for all its ambition, and despite (or because of?) its eclectic influences (Greek legends, Haitian festival music and Kiekegaard have all been cited), Reflektor is an unwieldy thing, easy to admire and difficult to love.