M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming Review

By Tom Daly / June 24, 2016

rating: 4.5

French music, it seems is ruling the electronic music waves, with the likes of electronic musical pioneers Daft Punk have already booked a place as legends with both their music and their image cemented as iconic, David Guetta producer to the mainstream pop of Pitbull and The Black Eyed Peas, and the fresher, more original sounds of Justice and Sebastian all being some of the biggest names on the house calendar. A shoegaze band then, is a nice surprise amongst the house-based backdrop of the French music scene. Hurry Up, We€™re Dreaming is the sixth and latest album by shoegaze whiz kids, M83. For those who haven€™t got a clue what shoegaze is, it features droning guitars, lots of synths, dreamy vocals and walled, layered production creating an epic, almost orchestral sound. Hurry Up, We€™re Dreaming, a double album, featuring twenty two tracks across two discs, all linked by a rose tinted view of the bands leader, Anthony Gonzales€™ childhood. Over the course of the twenty two tracks and seventy two minutes, to call Hurry Up, We€™re Dreaming an experience could be a slight understatement. The opening track to the album, Intro features Zola Jesus on vocals making a distinctive sound as soon as the record starts to play. Immaculate production, walls of synths and powerful vocals fill this opening track: one track in and I know that I love this album already. The second track on the album, Midnight City is the most recognised track from the album, a piece of catchy synth pop, featuring a placed sax solo that is equally brilliant as it is oddly placed, Midnight City sounds like it would go down well on an advert on channel 4.Of the tracks from the first half of Hurry Up, We€™re Dreaming, the pick of the best has to include the stunning Wait, a piece of dreamy shoegaze or Wait€™s follow up, Raconte-Moi Une Histoire which starts with a monologue from a child before launching into more epic, crushing synths. The absolute highlight of the first half of the record, though has to be Soon, My Friend the closing track on the album. Soon, My Friend begins with some soft acoustic guitars before launching into almost Beach Boys-esque harmonies and an orchestral yet electronic backing. The second half of Hurry Up We€™re Dreaming (it really is an album of two halves) kicks off with My Tears Are Becoming a Sea yet another excellent dream pop track. Its follow up tracks, New Map and OK Pal have a particularly new wave vibe, with the keyboards on these tracks feeling like something from a New Order or Depeche Mode (who M83 opened for on their last tour) album. Of all the tracks on the second half of Hurry Up, We€™re Dreaming though; the highlight has to be the album€™s closer, Outro. On outro we hear the album close in the finest way possible, starting with an orchestral beginning (and a silence) before launching into arguably the best produced dreampop on the record, basking in synths and guitars. Of all the great features of Hurry Up, We€™re Dreaming, the sheer variety of the music has to be one of the best parts: from keyboards to strings, children€™s choirs to drum machines, samplers to saxophones and guitars we hear a brilliantly wide range of instruments and sounds on the album. I could go through and sing the praises of each track individually, but frankly neither of us has the time. Hurry Up, We're Dreaming was released on October 17th.