Demob Happy

Maximilimalism

8/10

French duo M83 (Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau) make sonic crescendos out of analogue synths to evoke the kind of electronic post-rock in the vein of Mogwai, spliced with the anarchy of electroclash stalwarts Add N to X and the shoegazing haze of MBV or Slowdive. It’s a dinstinctive and winning formula that overcomes its influences, despite there being perhaps one crescendo too many. ‘Unrecorded’ pits bubbling synth melodies against soaring synthetic strings while ‘Run Into Flowers’ shows a pop sensibility with its harmonic, half-murmured vocals. ‘In Church’ and ‘On A White Lake, Near A Green Mountain’ strip away the rhythm to reveal piercing organs drenched in emotion, while ‘America’ chops up garbled voices over rollicking beats to alarming effect. The highlights however are the two-piece suite of ‘Be Wild’ and ‘Cyborg’, which sound like Jean-Michel Jarre and Vangelis jamming with Carl Craig – particularly ‘Be Wild’, which wouldn’t be out of place on the celebrated Blade Runner soundtrack – and 0078h, a stomping piece of robotic pop in the vein of Add N to X and an example of how to use processed vocals and not sound completely silly.