It’s that time of year again when the sun is high in the sky, celestial objects align, and our blog lives up to it’s name. It’s time for another Top 30! I introduced Cameron to M83 a while back through a few of their best songs, and their latest and greatest album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. At the time I think I mentioned wanting to do a top 30 list for the band, but I was in no way familiar enough with the French band’s six albums and two soundtracks to formulate any sort of comprehensive list. Over the recent year I’ve listened to the band’s whole discography and I’ve been duly entertained by a floaty, shoegaze rock, 80’s – electronic soundscape of ambient synthpop mixed with an artistic but impeccable modern production style. Anthony Gonzalez is the band’s foremost prolific creative source, cooking up over 120 songs and remixes over the past 15 years. Gonzalez is an artistic mind, cleverly composing and playing with sounds and beats to extrapolate layers of synth themes over album-wide arcs. Because of this, I’m of the opinion that M83 is best experienced in it’s full-album format, but for those not willing to invest that sort of time, even individual songs have a powerful impact. I first encountered M83 at a festival in Oakland, where they absolutely blew my socks off with their performance. With over 120 songs, there was quite a bit to choose between, and there are certain songs that won’t make it onto this list that are quite enjoyable to listen to. That said, to anybody who listens to songs on this list and is interested, I highly recommend exploring the band’s full catalog.

Without further preamble, let’s get started.

1- Intro

There are several albums in M83’s repertoire that will have quite a few mentions on this list, but Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming by far Gonzalez’s finest work yet, a double album with arcing themes and soundscapes that encompass a lucid, yet almost hallucinatory dreamscape of music. Intro starts the album off with a rising jam interlaced with weaving streams of synth and electronic themes.

2- Couleurs

If there is something that immediately appealed to me about M83’s collection of music, it was the amount of lengthy electro-masterpieces that vibrate along in all their colorful splendor. Couleurs was one of the songs played at the festival, and it captured me immediately. It is very reminscient of Jon Hopkin’s work, especially Light Through the Veins.

3- Cyborg

This is a deeper cut into the band’s early work, but you can see stylistic and creative patterns that crop up often in the band’s further work. Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts was the last album to be worked on by both of the band’s original members, Anthony Gonzalez and Nicholas Fromangeau.

4- Teen Angst

A driving synth lead leads us into a soundscape of emotion and choral arrangements that are perfect for late-night city driving.

5- * (Asterisk)

The first time I heard this song I restarted it because I thought my mp3 player was broken. The sudden break in the loud, driving intense progression emphasizes this song’s frenetic pace while conversely giving the listener a moment or two of stunned silence to contemplate what they are hearing. The use of this caesura at first left me taken aback by what I now consider an interesting out of the box approach to musical structure.

6- Oblivion

There aren’t a lot of things that will make me watch a Tom Cruise movie, but a M83 soundtrack will definitely do the trick. This song is also another example of the band’s spectacular choice and use of vocalists. Susanne Sundfør’s performance in this song never ceases to blow me away.

7- Reunion

I’m still not quite sure what the hell Gonzalez sings in this, but it’s so enjoyable to listen to and experience that it still gets a spot on this list despite the indiscernible lyrics. I know I could probably google the lyrics, but I enjoy imagining he’s yelling gibberish. (Also included in this song, a classic M83 sensual lady whisper.)

8- Wait

15 simple words are enough lyrics for this masterpiece. This is probably one of – if not my favorite M83 song. It’s slow, haunting simplicity are elements of a breathtaking whole.

9- Midnight City

Setting aside the fact that I’ve heard it about half a million times now, Midnight City is still a fine example of the band’s catchy style and ability to write a hot radio single. There is a crazy amount of layering and complexity to this song’s instrumentation that makes it endlessly entertaining to groove along to.

10- Claudia Lewis

The instrumentation of this song is awesome, and what I believe earns it a spot on this list. The tasty slap bass and gnarly synth solo help as well. I’ve heard M83’s style described as 80s synth rock, and I believe that this song fits that category perfectly.

11- New Map

An undermentioned aspect of M83’s musical style is the percussive elements that tie every song together. That and the choral elements of this song are dazzling, and justify the song’s inclusion on this list.

12- Another Wave From You

While relatively short compared to other epics produced by this band, I feel as though this song has it’s own epic impact

13- Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun

There’s something monumental about this song that reminds me of the mysteries of the pyramids, or the secrets of the galaxies. If there was ever to be a soundtrack to a stardeath, or fantastic journey through a wormhole, this would be my choice.

14- Don’t Save Us From The Flames

There is allot of eerie music in M83’s repertoire, but few are more chilling than this song’s depiction of a car crash. Before the Dawn Heals Us as an album has a stylistic similarity to it’s predecessor, but develops its themes over a more consistent arc. I don’t want to say that it’s a concept album per se, but the recurring themes of a traumatic vehicular experience and youthful existentialism tie the album together in a cohesive way.

15- Steve McQueen

Aside from it’s strange name, this song is a fantastic example of why anyone should listen to M83. This song convinced me to explore the rest of the band’s catalogue, and probably was the catalyst that allowed this list to happen. The music video is also fantastic, and always reminds me of a young Doctor Who.

16- Klaus I Love You

This is another one of those short M83 songs that I wish there were more of. A compelling riff swells and grows until breaking out into a funky jam. I don’t know about Klaus, but I love this song.

17- Moonchild

There are some songs by this band that make me want to stargaze, or sit beneath a night sky wondering what fantastic secrets are out there unexplored and unknown. This is definitely one of the weirder songs on this list, but conversely one of my favorites on a clear night.

18- Graveyard Girl

A song about being different, this song is very reminiscent of teenage angst and high school drama, a recurrent theme with Gonzalez’s music.

19- God of Thunder

Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts was certainly the album that I was least familiar with before creating this list, which prompted me to re listen to it several times before whittling down my choices. This song reminds me of a boss battle or horror scene, and readers of this blog will know that I enjoy playing music like this during video games to get me in the right mindset to beat even the toughest challenges. God of Thunder not only has the perfect name for this sort of endeavor, but also just the right “feel”.

20- I’m Happy She Said

A bittersweet song off the band’s eponymous debut album. I’m Happy, She Said is a classic M83 ending epic with sweeping ethereal fills that bring the album to a cinematic close. One of my favorite observations about this album is that the track-list tells a psychedelic short story, giving many of the songs a dash of down-tempo context.

21- Run Into Flowers

There is a feeling of intense focus about this song that I enjoy. It’s hard to explain why I feel this way, but it reminds me of staring into a microscope at something you don’t quite understand. While it doesn’t necessarily stand out from some of the more spectacular M83 songs, I think this one is another great shoegaze piece from Dead Cities.

22- Unrecorded

While primarily a synth-heavy song, there are vocal elements near the ending of this recording that I find irresistibly similar to Daft Punk.

23- You, Appearing

A beautiful yet sad song that swells into a choral arrangement of overlapping voices. There isn’t much to this song in comparison to some other M83 tracks, but it’s simplicity is just as engaging as some of the band’s early compositions.

24- Skin of the Night

I’ve always found this song to be pretty sexual, but beautiful nonetheless. The imagery in the lyrics are anything but crass, depicting love in a traditionally psychedelic M83 way.

25- Highway of Endless Dreams

Another example of the classic sensual lady whisper that seems to crop in many of these songs. I feel as though this element of vocal style would feel overdone if it appeared in the band’s music or individual songs any more than it does. That said, Saturdays = Youth has some of my favorite instances of this phenomenon. Highway Of Endless Dreams is a song that builds up in intensity, becoming increasingly louder, more aggressive and layered until finishing ending suddenly.

26- Raconte-Moi Une Histoire

This song is pretty weird, but it’s often one of the first song I show to people who are interested in M83. The progression of the song’s psychedelic tones are one of my favorite elements of the band’s style, combining this with the use of a young narrator to create a tone of innocent, adventurous make-believe. It’s pretty jarring to hear initially for some, but it’s brilliance is indisputably present upon revisit.

27- Holograms

This was an odd choice I feel, as this song isn’t off an actual M83 album, but on a soundtrack composed for a French art film directed by Anthony Gonzalez’s brother Yann. The movie itself is a sex comedy starring former Manchester United footballer Eric Cantona, but it’s soundtrack isn’t half bad at all. This is one of the tracks off that album that I particularly enjoy.

28- Night

A beautiful song with really fantastic lyrics sung in German. This is one of my favorite songs off the band’s first album, it’s cycling backing tracks and overlapping around some profound existential thoughts through fields of synthetic noise.

29- Fields, Shorelines and Hunters

This is definitely one of the loudest and noisiest songs on this list, but there is something cathartic to be experienced in this aggressive and eclectic jam.

30- Outro

Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably heard this track half a million times now, as it’s been featured in everything from movie trailers to television car commercials. There’s something beautifully addicting about this song, and though it’s pretty overused by industry standards, I find it is a relatively under acknowledged piece of music that deserves recognition for its splendor. One of my essential criteria for a top album is the quality of how that album begins and ends, and Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is one of my favorite examples of how to begin and end an album well.

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There you have it, the 30 best M83 songs as of June 2015. I’m really looking forward to what this band will create next, because everything I’ve heard so far has ranged from absolutely beautiful to perplexingly intriguing, weird, eclectic, and addictive. I didn’t order my list in any particular way this time around other than to arrange a few songs into more of a setlist order. I enjoyed writing this list immensely, as it meant I got to discover aspects of the band’s extended work that I wasn’t familiar with previously, such as the many soundtracks Anthony Gonzalez and co. have worked on, in addition to having just another excuse to listen to one of my favorite artists. If you so happen to have an intimate knowledge of M83, (or even if you don’t) let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading,

Alexander