If there’s one thing Anthony Gonzalez’s M83 is consistently good for, it’s immensity. With the announcement of a brand new 22-song album called Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming and the release of the LP’s first single, “Midnight City,” Gonzalez has once again delivered.
From the moment the gristly, grinding metallic synthesizers kick in at the start of “Midnight City,” a powerful urgency takes hold and establishes this new track as not just a sampling of M83’s new batch, but as one of the most fantastic cuts Gonzalez and his project have ever produced. Within moments the song is overridden by a stampede of ferocious live percussion and even heavier synthesizer, a proverbial rocket launch of sound and texture that strikes every note perfectly. M83 is known for meshing electronica and full-band sounds as well as anyone, but this colossal machination is still surprisingly impressive. Even after the muffled, almost indecipherable vocals about waiting outside in a car – the aching lyrics hang beautifully off the contrasting up tempo rhythms – soften, and the song slows, there’s still a pulsating build up underneath it all; a crescendo reminiscent of so many fantastic house or techno songs.
Then, as Gonzalez has done so many times before, he blows the song completely wide open, igniting an array of laser beam sound effects, pumping the drums full of adrenaline, and introducing a jaw-dropping saxophone solo that completely steals the show. It sounds like the 1980s have been picked up like a carpet and rolled straight through to 2011, gathering up all the steam from the many years and sounds in between and mixing them all together at once in perfect unison. It’s here that Yann Gonzalez, M83’s resident composer, earns his keep several times over.
Expecting anything less than a showcase of grandiose from M83’s new cut would have been a mistake, but even the highest expectations are more than met by “Midnight City.” In a year of highly memorable tracks, this one has instantly soared into the utmost tier. And to think, this is just the first of 22 total songs still to come this October.
