Before the Dawn Heals Us
is
M83
's follow-up to the 2003 international breakthrough
Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
. If you're noticing a trend toward drifting album titles, that's deliberate --
mastermind
Anthony Gonzalez
loves crafting antigravity masterpieces of layered and meandering synthesizers. He's also the principal player on
Dawn
, with previous collaborator
Nicolas Fromageau
having moved into solo work. Left to his own devices,
Gonzalez
has made a more cohesive record than
Dead Cities
. As nice as they were, that album's synthesized soundscapes tended to drift into a foggy territory between
Boards of Canada
and
Tangerine Dream
.
remedies that with the addition of vocals, more consistent beats, and a cinematic pace.
"Teen Angst"
"Don't Save Us From the Flames"
pin gorgeous melodies to an
indie electronic
sound comparable to
the Notwist
;
"Flames"
in particular is a great departure, roaring out of the gate with giddy drum fills and an oscillating keyboard squiggle.
"Farewell/Goodbye"
is an icy,
Air
-ish duet between
Ben
of
Cyann & Ben
Big Sir
vocalist
Lisa Papineau
; it's not the most effective thing on
, but it works as a love theme to the imaginary
Michael Mann
film
seems at times to be directing. (Check out that cover art.) The album also has its stretches of instrumental wander.
"I Guess I'm Floating,"
for example, features a scattered sample of children's laughter over lingering keyboard flourishes. But
never gets carried away on the breeze -- he'll set a mood, but he'll cut it wide open, too.
"Let Men Burn Stars"
is a breathy and innocuous lull before the recording's most intense passage,
"Car Chase Terror."
"Look at my hands, I'm shaking...." a woman (actress
Kate Moran
) says over the hiss of crickets, her words tense with fear. A moody electronic pulse fades in, and suddenly you're in the midst of the chase, narrated by the same scared voice -- "Turn the key! Go! Go!" -- and the melody is melodramatic and terrifying all at once.
is ambitious for sure, an emphatic step forward from the linger of
. But it might also be a transition album for
, a storyboard of where he'll take
next. ~ Johnny Loftus