- When M83 took a step in a decidedly more ambient direction in 2007 with Digital Shades Vol. 1, the title suggested this was just the first taste of this new direction for the band. Now, some twelve years later, we finally get the sequel, initialised to DSVII. Not that it’s really been that long a wait: the time between the two volumes has been filled with three studio albums and three soundtrack albums, the most recent being Knife + Heart released in March of this year, itself scratching that ambient itch.
Ambient music makes sense for M83, as the elements of it have always been present on their records. Digital Shades Vol. 1 sounded, if anything, like any other M83 album but with all those additional layers of instrumentation and structure stripped back to leave only the ambient sounds that have always been at the foundation. DSVII hasn’t reproduced that effect, or if it went that way to begin with, additional layers have been added back on top. Namely these layers are analogue synths that give the whole record a very '80's throwback vibe, sometimes reminiscent to my ear of Daft Punk’s 2013 album Random Access Memories, though for any similarities that record might have to M83‘s latest there are many more differences.
That '80's throwback vibe is very much deliberate: the inspiration for DSVII came from early video games, which sole band member Anthony Gonzalez played while on holidays in his native France in 2017. Using ‘80s sci-fi and fantasy soundtracks, as well as the works of artists like Suzanne Ciani and Brian Eno as his muses, the album was recorded over two years using only analogue equipment.
It’s fitting that science fiction soundtracks inspired the album, because the album itself could be one. As Mirage plays you can almost see the protagonist looking out over the barren alien landscape of a new planet, far from home. In other places on the album you’ll have no trouble conceiving in your mind the image of vast, futuristic glass towers. You get what you expect from an album called Digital Shades.
How well you find the more ambient elements blend with the very ‘80's synthwork will probably depend on your familiarity with the styles being evoked. For me, it took a number of listens before I felt total harmony between everything in play. Perhaps my initial oil-and-water impression was from trying to fit the album into the distinct genres with which it’s been tagged. I think you'll find it’s a welcome addition to the M83 catalogue if you do what you would with any good sci-fi and embrace the strange.
- Sam Gunders.