M83

Thu 26th Mar, 2009 in Features

M83’s Anthony Gonzalez has the remarkable ability to create what could arguably be described as an eternal waking dream. He does it with such proficiency, you could almost swear that he exists within one himself. Over a career spanning nine years, the Antibes native’s ethereal creations have garnered him the most loyal of fans and enamoured of critics; hopelessly smitten by his brand of ironic ambience.

Being able to produce such a well-liked and distinctive sound also means knowing how to balance consistency with innovation. This challenge played an integral role in the conception of Gonzalez’s latest album, Saturdays = Youth.

“Saturdays was meant to be something different,” he insists. “I wanted to try something new, change things a little, but still have the same feel and the same sound of the previous album. I think it’s interesting, [and] important to experiment and try new things.” And so by selecting a team of four musicians and producers, including the renowned Ewan Pearson and Ken Thomas, Gonzalez was able for the first time to construct an album within a team environment. “I was surrounded by different producers, so I wasn’t alone in my challenges. It’s now like a band experience, producers and musicians working together. It made the making of this album very different from the previous ones, but we did keep it like a family setting.”

One of the musicians Gonzalez recruited in an effort to keep things dynamic was singer/songwriter and movie trailer-vocalist, Morgan Kibby, whose pristine vocals perfectly complement his own carefully hushed tones. “I wasn’t singing a lot in the previous album, but I’m more confident to expose myself now, so I wanted to include my own voice in this record,” he asserts. It was this importance Gonzalez placed on the vocal constituent of Saturdays that allowed the concept of adolescence to be explored within the framework of its unashamedly – œ80s-inspired sounds. It all adds up to make this the most pop-friendly and accessible M83 record to date.

That said, it wasn’t a case of Gonzalez going out of his way to create something more commercially viable than his previous records. By bringing together his two passions, he was able to tap into that collective weakness and fondness for nostalgia. “My teenage years meant a lot to me,” the softly-spoken Gonzalez shares. “It’s what I wanted the main theme of this record to be. And the music of the – œ80s is one of the most important in music history; in the music industry. There were so many big and important bands that emerged in this period in time, it’s impossible not be inspired by it, to talk about it. I’ve always felt that there’s something purely amazing about it, how it always sounds really clear. You can instantly hear where it’s coming from, it’s so obvious. And what I find really special is that it’s so melancholy, so cold.”

Surely heartbreak by its very definition would seem a difficult concept within which to invest one’s affections, but Gonzalez readily identifies it as a creative imperative. “Melancholy is already part of my music, it’s always been melancholic, it just naturally always sounds sad, especially some of the sounds from my last album. So I tried to get over it, to change it and to do something more upbeat, but it wasn’t easy. It’s innate for me to create this kind of melancholy. It’s hard to escape.”

But by skilfully offsetting it with Kibby’s delicate vocals in Skin of The Night, the shimmery synths of Up! and characters such as Graveyard Girl’s naïve and melodramatic protagonist, Gonzalez manages to keep this melancholy infectiously likeable. It’s this sensibility which will no doubt prove invaluable when he eventually shifts focus to his other great passion: cinematography. “I’ve done a soundtrack for a film. It was a great experience, but I don’t think it will be released. But to work on soundtracks is one of my dreams, one of my goals for the future. I would love to be involved in the making of the movies some day.”

M83 will play The Other Stage at V Festival, plus three sideshows alongside The Dø.

Saturday March 28 – V Festival Sydney
Sunday March 29 – V Festival Gold Coast
Tuesday March 31 – Brisbane, The Zoo
Wednesday April 1 – Melbourne, POW
Thursday April 2 – Sydney, Metro
Saturday April 4 – V Festival Melbourne
Sunday April 5 – V Festival Perth