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 -- M83 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. Dawn remedies that with the addition of vocals, more consistent beats, and a cinematic pace. "Teen Angst" and "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 and Big Sir vocalist Lisa Papineau; it's not the most effective thing on Before the Dawn Heals Us, but it works as a love theme to the imaginary Michael Mann film Gonzalez 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 Gonzalez 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. Before the Dawn Heals Us is ambitious for sure, an emphatic step forward from the linger of Dead Cities. But it might also be a transition album for Gonzalez, a storyboard of where he'll take M83 next.
When I look at my notes from this past weekend's M83 show words like sparkly and ethereal are the first ones that I notice. Note to self: Those are lame, overused words to describe music. A one-off gig at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles' newest architectural landmark, brought M83 aka Anthony Gonzalez, his laptop and synthesizer together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic' like indie ro...
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'Before the Dawn Heals Us' is an album that I will be able to listen to for the rest of my life without tire. This record connected with me more than anything I've heard..maybe ever. It has the most massive, epic atmosphere of anything in my collection. This album is much more of a soundtrack than a rock record - yet, Anthony Gonzales managed to incorporate more rock elements into the songs tha...
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When I look at my notes from this past weekend's M83 show words like sparkly and ethereal are the first ones that I notice. Note to self: Those are lame, overused words to describe music. A one-off gig at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles' newest architectural landmark, brought M83 aka Anthony Gonzalez, his laptop and synthesizer together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic' like indie ro...
More >
I'm not sure if everyone already noticed, but the final beautiful moments of For The Record: Britney Spears featured the lush melodies of the masterful French electro-masher, M83 , and I think the track in question bears a bit of recognition. Soft drum beats, tingling electronica sputters, and angelic, layered choir vocals join together to paint an aural portrait of a beautiful, glittering s...
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one of my favourite tracks from M83 has been remixed by this guy, Death To The Throne. I'm talking about 'Teen Angst'. I was very surprised finding this floating around somwhere, I can't remember where it was but. The world needs more M83 remixes, that's for sure. I came to a stop with 'Teen Angst' [...]
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I would like to know what different people consider selling out. The reason I list M83 is because in the past having your song show up in a TV ad selling anything was considered selling out. I know they're not the only ones and I don't think this is selling out at all. A lot of people are doing it now. Royksopp is another. I am a musician who wants to do this. I would love my music to be ...
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'Before the Dawn Heals Us' is an album that I will be able to listen to for the rest of my life without tire. This record connected with me more than anything I've heard..maybe ever. It has the most massive, epic atmosphere of anything in my collection. This album is much more of a soundtrack than a rock record - yet, Anthony Gonzales managed to incorporate more rock elements into the songs tha...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Moon Child |
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| 2 Don't Save Us from the Flames |
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| 3 In the Cold I'm Standing |
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| 4 Farewell/Goodbye |
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| 5 Fields, Shorelines and Hunters |
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| 6 * |
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| 7 I Guess I'm Floating |
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| 8 Teen Angst |
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| 9 Can't Stop |
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| 10 Safe |
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| 11 Let Men Burn Stars |
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| 12 Car Chase Terror |
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| 13 Slight Night Shiver |
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| 14 A Guitar and a Heart |
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| 15 Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun |
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 "Before the Dawn Heals Us")
