Out of a mash of static comes the robotic voice of a woman saying, “Sun is shining, birds are singing, flowers are growing, flowers are looming and I am flying.” This is repeated until it breaks into the blasting electronic force of “Unrecorded,” the first full song on M83′s second full length release Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts. The song transitions from a driving electronic drum beat and swirling synths to an overlapping of swirling synths and voice distortions. The beauty of this album is only beginning and yet it already has me in tears.
I purchased this album, almost six years ago, solely on the cover art, which is still very intriguing, and thirty second complimentary clips of the songs on the website from which I purchased. Little did I know that my life would revolve around this album for little over two years. During a certain rough of time I became frequently enveloped in this album, listening to it everyday, over and over, one might even say obsessively. The brilliance of this album isn’t the fact that they take cheesy sounding synths from bad 80′s albums and convert them into beautifully structured songs, but the fact that they do this and make it sound so revolutionarily incredible. Even now, I will play songs from this album and still marvel at the force of the emotion being put forth. It bleeds love, heartbreak, confusion, wonderment, and divinity.
One of the most prominent representations of this description is in the third track, “Run Into Flowers.” Hearing only a thirty second clip of this song was all I needed to motivate me to get this album. One of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard, period. One of the most perfect songs ever created. I cannot say enough about this song without sounding ridiculous. I don’t believe I will ever find another song that has transformed me as much as this song has. Starting with heavily fuzzed out synths and simple pulsating drums the song explodes into a culmination of more smoothly laid fuzzed out synths, disorienting violins, swirling vocal manipulations, and whatever else Nicholas Fromageau and Anthony Gonzalez packed into this unimaginable representation of human achievement in music. If you take anything away from this review, know that this song is something to marvel at, a true work of art.
“In Church” starts with church organs, soothing vocals, and electronic manipulations before it breaks down into the familiar fuzz of synths and guitar distortion. The culmination of these sounds forces one to feel like they are being floated to heaven in the arms of angels, the same can be said for the album closer “Beauties Can Die.” There is a feeling of not knowing where you are or where you are going, but knowing that you’re safe, a feeling of being reborn. That ends with the destruction of “America.” A fast-paced song that speeds by with destructive capabilities eventually decimating everything in it’s path leaving nothing but the feedback of a guitar to trail off in the desolation. The distant worlds of other planets are explored through songs like: “On A White Lake, Near A Green Mountain,” “Be Wild,” “Cyborg,” and “Gone,” which gives the feeling of a loss of gravity as you bound about the surface of an alien planet, alone with your thoughts, alone with the universe, alone and in love with it, that certain part of loneliness that gives you satisfaction and the true freedom of relaxation.
“Noise,” on the other hand, grounds the listener in a steady progression that eventually becomes overwhelmed by a heaving sense of shoegaze. Inevitably, this drowns the listener in a swirl of guitar distortion and the remnants of other instruments lost within the hurricane of sound. “0078h” presents the vocally distorted voice of a woman saying something that I have never been able to make out correctly. The building and encompassing sensation of the music, coupled with the various assortment of distorted samples and clips of vocals strewn throughout the height of the song brings little in the way of discernment. It is best just to sit back and adore the beauty of this music without examining it too much.
M83 have continued to create wonderfully provocative music. I have purchased and enjoyed all of their other releases and have attended as many live appearances as possible. But, Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts is one of the most important albums of my life, let alone it being one of the most important albums of M83′s career. I will always love this album and what it represents to me and that period of my life. Sometimes the soundtrack makes the memory’s motion pictures all the more memorable, beautiful, and important. I couldn’t have asked for a better one.
