You have heard of M83 (named after the galaxy Messier 83). If you don’t think you have, you have. Trust me. If you listened to music last year, it was difficult to avoid “Midnight City,” the huge hit off of M83’s 2011 album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. The album was the biggest success for the French electronic band, although they have released six albums to date. Six albums and a lot of good music.
See? I told you. With more than 14 million Facebook views, it is easy to confirm that the song was/is quite popular. In a few hours I am going to the M83 show at Central Park Summerstage, and I’m not quite sure what to expect. M83 plays an infectious brand of shoegaze electronic music that combines crescendoing, heavenly melodies with Anthony Gonzalez’s smooth vocals. Because of the success of “Midnight City” and the whole synthpop infused double album, I’m not sure what the crowd is going to look like. My guess is an overwhelmingly young crowd with a mix of true M83 devotees and recent fans. Oh, and there will certainly be costumes by the band and flashing lights. A lot of flashing lights.
I was introduced to M83 by Okocim. He will be joining me for the concert tonight. He showed me the band in college and I immediately became hooked by one song in particular, the lengthy last track of M83’s 2005 album Before the Dawn Heals Us. The song that intrigued me was “Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun.” It still remains my favorite song from the band. I know that I will probably not hear the track tonight, but I can still show it to you folks.
The piece struck a chord with me mainly because of its repetitive creativity. I love how Gonzalez lays out the piece, combining rising elements until it forms a wave of sound that hits hard. It is what I would consider an epic piece (and perfect for a movie). You can just imagine something glorious happening as this plays. I know that M83 with most likely open the show with “Intro,” the first track off of their new album, but a taste of this piece would work even better (in my opinion of course). Now enjoy the song, and I will have a review up of the concert soon.
The Music Court 