DSVII - M83: Review
is the Electronic music project of French producer and songwriter Anthony Gonzalez that has been releasing music since the early 2000's to large critical acclaim. In 2007 M83 released Digital Shades Vol. 1 an album that took a much more ambient or soundtrack approach than any of the groups other work and DSVII is the sequel to that record over a decade later.
Review By Lavender:
M83 is an amazing groups with a brilliant discography that you should absolutely dive into. Dead Cities Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, Before The Dawn Heals Us and Saturdays = Youth are all essential listening fro the 2000's and 2011 Hurry Up We're Dreaming is one of my favorite records of this entire decade. While I love M83 even I am willing to admit that Digital Shades is not one of the moments I would recommend from the band as their approach is more background noise than any compositionally dense or uniquely textured ambient or drone music, and its only barely a step above some of the bands soundtrack work for films. So I wasn't dying with excitement for this sequel despite the fact we haven't heard from the band since 2016, and ultimately Digital Shades Vol. 2 is pretty much exactly what I anticipated.
One of the things I was worried about going into this record was Anthony taking on sheer ambient tracks and the moments on the record where he does don't really tend to impress me. Colonies is a sheer ambient track that just pails in comparison to some of the more textured and intricate ambient songs I've heard from other acts this year and mainly tries to be as nondescript as possible. Meet The Friends and Jeux D'Enfants are short songs that don't really serve much purpose and feature styles that are done better on other points across the album. A Taste Of The Dusk is a tolerable song that doesn't really use its time well as the songs swells mainly come in moments where its core refrain get louder but stays completely unchanged otherwise and it makes the song tedious. Oh Yes You're There, Everyday is probably the weakest moment on the entire album with a painstakingly long runtime that is just desperately underused and may have been decent in shorter form but wastes way too much time.
A large bit of this record is made up of shorter songs with one main musical concept they revolve around and most of them are good, although A Word Of Wisdom sounds like some awful faux gospel that would crop up as an interluded on a bad Chance The Rapper album. There are a number of tracks here that really embody the soundtrack vibes of the album and are very solid additions that I enjoy, but wouldn't really be standout moments on their own. Goodbye Captain Lee is a short but worthwhile moment with some distant breezy vocal samples and a tight synth loop at its core. There are a series of distant but textured tracks in the tail end of the record starting with Lunar Sun and leading into a pretty gorgeous one two punch of Mirage and Taifun Glory that adds quite a lot to the record as a listening experience.
Thankfully in the records nearly hour long runtime there are plenty of excellent moments that work as standalone tracks and heighten the album experience, particularly in the first half. Hell Riders is a great opening song with a long and steady build featuring some soft distant electronics and reverbed strings. The track second half has some angelic chorus vocals and the textures and musical evolution are very worthwhile. A Bit Of Sweetness is a silky smooth piano tune that is pretty compelling and plays right into the hand of the records overall progression and it reminds me a lot of something that downtempo legends Air would do.
Feelings is one of the best moments on the record as the track sounds like a gorgeous ode to water levels from Super Mario 64 with its washed out sweet sounds. Even when the track leaves this sound behind it goes on a winding and expansive build into its closing moments that hit just as hard as anything else here. Lune De Fiel was one of the singles for the record and I think its a pretty exciting tune with a driving synth lead over an electronic soundscape that I really enjoy, The song also has a breakdown of the synths that leads to these massive triumphant returns with great intimate moments and great huge ones. The other great single was Temple Of Sorrow which isn't the best in strict use of its time but it does have an absolutely killer second half that I adored as a single and it makes the closing moments of this record even more immaculate and gorgeous, just a killer closing moment.
DSVII won't be one of the most significant releases in 2019 and many, even some M83 fans won't get much out of it. But for the type of people who typically enjoy a record like this there are a lot of good moments and despite its inconsistencies the record starts and ends on good moments. While I am still looking forward to what M83 may do on their next big proper studio album this is still an enjoyable detour that I enjoyed more than I thought I would. 6.5/10
