M83 takes 25-year musical leap backward

By Joel Schafer

Published April 22, 2008

Appropriately named after a distant galaxy, M83 (formerly a duo) now consists solely of Anthony Gonzalez. Imposing a shoegaze mentality on electronic music, M83 specializes in creating super dense sound-scapes that progress through extensive layering and production. Their music has always been somewhat obscure yet simultaneously appealing by allowing listeners to revel in the vast panoramic views it portrays.

Gonzalez said that Saturdays=Youth, his latest album, is inspired by and devoted to his teenage years, which took place in the ‘90s. After the first few minutes into the album, one would swear he grew up in the neon-lit era of the ‘80s. The album is essentially an electronic collage of typical ‘80s sounds: drum machines complete with phased toms, glistening, bittersweet guitars and yearning lyrics. The songs rely less on the constructive layering M83 is known for, favoring a more mainstream song structure complete with recognizable, sing-along choruses.

The misleading opening track “You, Appearing” doesn’t shed much light on Saturdays=Youth’s main flavor. In fact, it makes it seem as though the album won’t be much of a departure from Gonzalez’s previous work. The drum roll introduction to “Kim & Jessie” (is that Phil Collins on the set?) immediately vanquishes this false perception. The predictable verse-chorus-bridge layout is what shoots this track down. The bridge after the second chorus couldn’t be more obviously placed and shows Gonzalez’s conventional approach with this album.

“Couleurs” rightfully acts as the album’s centerpiece. Clocking in at more than eight minutes and landing smack in the middle of the lineup, it is completely void of the other faults that riddle the album: no feigned vocals, no immediate hook and no god-awful breakdown. “Couleurs” builds off a single synth line and assembles itself into a multi-layered, danceable, yet emotional instrumental epic. This is as close as this album gets to the M83 we all know.

Catchy? Damn right it’s catchy, but not Olivia Newton-John or Wham! catchy at times. Of course they’re catchy, but simply being catchy obviously does not make the music inventive or interesting. It is rehashed, electronic crap built by computers for the radio. I’m not claiming that Saturdays=Youth is made for the radio, or that it’s complete garbage. I’m merely questioning why Gonzalez chose to lift this music up on a pedestal and center all his ideas on something so dated.

This review should contain some kind of disclaimer: overdramatic, emotional lyrics aren’t always a bad thing, cheesy synths are something we all secretly like and “The Breakfast Club” is definitely a good movie. Point being, not all things from the ‘80s make us cringe. Still, it’s always a shame to see artists take a step backwards, especially if it’s a mammoth, 25-year step backwards.