The Beat Surrender

Coming quite close but not quite beating brie in a top list of French exports has to be the band M83. Formed in Antibes, France in 2000 by Nicolas Fromageau and Anthony Gonzalez M83’s name originates from a distant galaxy (quite literally). Combining funky electronic basslines and massive soundscapes the duo site influences such as Tangerine Dream and the obviously apparent Mogwai. For M83’s third album the original duo split, leaving Gonzalez basically alone to produce Before the Dawn Heals Us, apparent in the slight tangent the sound has taken from the second album.

The first track I had heard from the album was what I consider to be pretty much the best of the bunch. “Teen Angst” is an absolutely fantastic track and I consider it to be one of the standout songs of recent, the initial electronic riff loads up into a superb surrounding sound only let down a little by the slightly irritating male voice. Showing an obvious appreciation of some of the greatest Mogwai music is the 6th track on the album, the strangely titled ”*”. The first four tracks I think have more than a passing resemblance to some of Explosions in the Sky’s better tracks, creating a kind of expansive floating orchestral feel to carry the breathy vocals.

After “Teen Angst” the album seems to take on a different feel, with a more sombre edge to the electronics, punctuated by piano in “Let Men Burn Stars” and a particularly sinister monologue in “Car Chase Terror!” closely followed by what is almost a funeral dirge in “Slight Night shiver”. It’s then back to a superb dance rock anthem in “A Guitar And A Heart” and a culmination of all the different sounds in the album in “Lower Your Eyelids To Die With The Sun”.

Continue