M83 - Saturdays=Youth - Mute - 2008

Certainly the most talked about release this week in music has to be the new M83 album called “Saturdays=Youth“. Now before I even go into talking about this album, take a long, hard look at the cover above. See that? That is what this album sounds like. You don’t need any words when you look at that, right there. I mean, the Sixteen Candles/Pretty in Pink girl is right there on the cover. Anyway, M83 is basically Anthony Gonzalez, a guy from France, and the previous album “Before the Dawn Heals Us” was an adventure into atmospheric 80s shoegaze style music, with gigantic synth soundscapes. It is very hard to describe either album in words, so I really suggest checking them out to decide for yourself. The new album is quite a bit different in many ways from that last album, and it takes a much more focused approach to the 80s style shoegaze album. However, there are still large parts of it that remain largely unfocused and atmospheric, most notably the last track “Midnight Souls Still Remain”.

Whereas with the last record, only a few of the songs really had much of a traditional song structure, many more of these songs here have a more discernible direction and a beginning/middle/end. There are a lot more vocals, and there is a heavy presence of a female vocalist in there as well. The result is that it doesn’t have the same 70-minute headtrip feel to it that the last album had, where you pretty much put it on and it sounds like you are spacing out for the entire record. Here, with more focused songs, the atmospheric space-out moments aren’t quite so pronounced. This album really sounds like an 80s party in a much more direct way than the Cut Copy record did. I read another review of this that I agree with and that guy said that this album sounds like it could have been released in the 80s, which I think is true. There is nothing on the record to suggest that it was made in 2008 as opposed to 1985. It results in a very cool time warp kind of sound, that really makes you feel like it is 20 years ago, but it also feels fresh, and I really could imagine someone hearing this album in a bar or something and saying “Oh, I totally used to LOVE this song”, not realizing it came out this week. It sounds like every high school/college prom/dance background music in every 80s movie ever made basically. It probably could also have been used for a “fixing up the boat” montage in a movie like “One Crazy Summer”. I guess that’s the cool part, is that it kind of sounds like that, but it is much better, and kind of encompasses every new wave sound you remember from the 80s into one album, and for the most part, it works.

Anyway, I’m fumbling with words to really describe this album. It is pretty awesome I think, but it really doesn’t sound like the last album, and he has really gone 100% pure 80s on this one. I recommend checking it out though. Whereas a lot of current artists are using “80s sounds”, this album literally sounds like the 80s.

They/he is also on tour, coming to the US!

Apr 19 2008 8:00P Camden Crawl London
Apr 25 2008 8:00P Andrews Lane Theater Dublin, Dublin
Apr 28 2008 8:00P Cargo London, London and South East
Apr 29 2008 8:00P Maroquinerie Paris, Ile-de-France
May 2 2008 8:00P L.E.V Festival Gijon

May 3 2008 8:00P Ancienne Belgique Brussels
May 20 2008 8:00P Echoplex Los Angeles, California
May 21 2008 8:00P Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California
May 23 2008 8:00P Doug Fir Lounge Portland, Oregon
May 24 2008 8:00P Richards on Richards Vancouver
May 25 2008 8:00P Neumos Seattle
May 28 2008 8:00P Triple Rock Club Minneapolis
May 29 2008 8:00P Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois
May 30 2008 8:00P The Mod Club Toronto
May 31 2008 8:00P Cabaret Music Hall Quebec
Jun 2 2008 8:00P Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jun 3 2008 8:00P Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, New York
Jun 4 2008 8:00P Bowery Ballroom New York, New York
Jun 6 2008 8:00P First Unitarian Church Philadelphia
Jun 7 2008 8:00P Black Cat Washington

M83 - Graveyard Girl - From Saturdays=Youth
M83 - We Own The Sky - From Saturdays=Youth