M83 — Before The Dawn Heals Us

It's hard to imagine, but at some point, M83 — a.k.a. Anthony Gonzales — sat down with his massive, masterful debut from last year, Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, and thought, "Y'know, this just isn't grandiose enough." Gonzales upped the ante on his second disc, taking Dead Cities' towering synth tidal waves and speeding them up, cutting them into pieces and inserting live vocals, guitars and drums into the breaks. Occasionally, the songs tumble over themselves and, like opening track "Moonchild," end up sounding like the soundtrack to a Lord Of The Rings video game. But Gonzales' newfound adventurousness means the mega sonics are countered by arresting musical punctuation, which makes the whole affair at once more transporting and less exhausting. 

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