New York City was hit by a severe snowstorm last week. And, inevitably, when I’m watching the snow fall, walking down strangely quiet streets after dark, with people tucked inside and staying warm, I put on M83’s sophomore record, Dead Cities, the Red Sea and Lost Ghosts.
Before Nicolas Fromageau left the band and Anthony Gonzalez adopted traditional pop song structures, saxophone solos and teen angst, M83 released two albums of mostly instrumental music. The self-titled debut album is kind of forgettable, but the second album finds the French duo taking inspiration from the repetitive bombast of Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. dead City It’s a decidedly French twist on post-rock grandeur, creating a blanket of sound from drum machines, analog synths and heavily compressed guitars.
There is a feeling of limitation dead CityAn ethereal atmosphere that lives up to its name. Listening to the gently repeating melody of “Be Wild” as the track slowly accumulates layers, it’s impossible to imagine walking through a once bustling city that is now freshly abandoned. Reflects the horror of “America” twilight zone “where is everybody?” As frantic drums, My Bloody Valentine-esque guitars, and uneasy synths build to an initial crescendo.
However, you can tell from the very first moment that something is wrong. The record begins with a 54-second chant of “Birds”:
the sun is shining
the birds are singing
flowers are growing
The clouds are hovering and I’m flying
The computerized voice initially bathes in digital distortion, gradually transforming into a soothing tone that sounds inherently incredible. There is no sun. There are no birds. And there are no flowers. The album opens with Lying to You before launching into the highlight “Unrecorded”.
“Unrecorded” sounds like a mission statement for the record. Analog arpeggios, driving drums, droney guitars, manipulated vocals, and cinematic synth strings all combine into an ice-bound wall of sound. Listening to tracks like this, it’s shocking that it took Hollywood another 10 years to enlist M83 to make a movie (2013’s Oblivion).
M83 would eventually go on to record shoegaze-indebted retro pop, including hits like “Kim & Jessie” and the absolutely inevitable “Midnight City.” But before that, the group explored something more cinematic and open-ended.
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