M83

M83 (AKA Anthony Gonzales) have been a favored act of mine right from hearing the epic Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghost back in 1993. The ability to create euphoric cinematic (mainly) instrumental tracks is an art that I can't recall any other artists getting close to. The crashing synths, vocal choirs, beats and strange array of accompaniment has ensured an ever evolving grandiose sound.

Perhaps, his greatest act is new album ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’ which spans two albums, 22 tracks and does include the word ‘concept’ when being discussed. The ‘concept’ is these tracks are soundtracks to your dreams, which is better than many other concepts. Right from the ‘Intro’ on CD1 the spirit of M83 is captured perfectly. This leads into the recent single ‘Midnight City’ which is an epic dancefloor track. There is a certain 80s feel to some of the album, with ‘Re-Union’ and ‘OK Pal’ having a very retro feel, and ‘Claudia Lewis’ tipping its hat to some Level 42 basslines!

M83 also like to include the unexpected; ‘Car Chase Terror’ achieved this on America with its B-Movie styled commentary about being watched, and now ‘Raconte-Moi Une Histoire’ includes a whole lot more sedate young child describing hallucinogenic frogs over a simple beat. ‘Steve McQueen’ has all the stamping of the next single with a frantic pace, along with some wonderfully weaving vocals.

This is probably M83 most ‘pop’ album so far, and on the whole it does work, but I do sometime wish there was more of the original appeal of the first album I heard. 15 solid tracks may have been a better single album, but that said this is still a magnificent work of electronica showing again what a talent M83 is. Each listen still seems to unearth a new sound and pleasure that was previously overlooked, such is the depth of the albums production.