Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts - M83

Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

M83
Mute Records.

SCQ Rating: 82%

A found-sound loop is suddenly calmed by a chorus of synths, at once orchestral yet baring its cool digital origin, and as it crests next to a stuttered, thudding beat, I became completely enamoured with ‘On a White Lake, Near a Green Mountain’. Such a track was revelatory on a September day in 2004, when Pitchfork was a new guide to unknown bands and M83 were purveyors of a craft I’d never heard before. Without hesitation I downloaded and devoured the rest of it, taking the excellent call-and-answer keys of ‘Unrecorded’ with the are-they-serious cheese of ‘Be Wild’… despite the fact that both tracks were composed of the same old-school techniques. And if its title is any indication, Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts is indeed serious, presenting enough digital upgrades to render even the corniest instrumentals completely novel again. This album introduces M83’s pendulum swing between forward-thinking end-music and theatrical pretention, while proving both the apex and end for the duo. Fromageau disappeared into the ethers while Gonzalez became ambassador of the 80’s electro-revival.

By the time I had moved from ‘On a White Lake, Near a Green Mountain’ to the equally dramatic ‘Gone’, I was aware of M83’s inherent limitation. With focus squarely on cinematic-style emoting, Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts was destined to become an indie/electro crossover, thanks to the euphoric rush of ‘Run Into Flowers’ mixing dramatically with the elegance of closer ‘Beauties Can Die’. M83’s affinity for coasting on drama before leveling your senses with disorder began with the double-shot of ‘In Church’ and ‘America’; the former opening with conservative organ refrains and disembodied vocals before its waves turn to staccato touches and the latter track breaks in the door, with spastic live-drumming and a ton of lazer-effects. Independently, these songs feel like stalemates… together they feel like a jolted, purposeful suite of calm and chaos.

While Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts may not be their debut, it acts as a proper starting point for most fans as it anticipates Gonzalez’s love of jarring instrumental shifts (on Before the Dawn Heals Us) and dramatic, throw-back heaves (Saturday = Youth). Although his latest releases have seen the most acclaim, I support this album has M83’s best. While the best singles were yet to come, Fromageau balanced Gonzalez’s hackneyed impulses like Lennon did McCartney’s, and that union kept this last release as a duo the poised, stirring breakthrough we hear now.