Music Review: M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
It’s no secret that nobody really likes listening to other people’s dream stories. They are usually drawn out, ambiguous and lacking any sort of coherence. Obviously. Dreams are the work of our subconscious, and so relating them to someone else is never going to recapture what we were feeling in our sleep. It’s not surprising though, that we can’t help trying to relate to others what those sleep-scenes looked and felt like, even while our audience tries to hide their indifference behind raised eyebrows.
In my first encounter with Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming I felt like this indifferent yet intrigued audience. Admittedly, M83’s Anthony Gonzalez is going for an epicness here, and does it quite well. Honestly, I did feel a little like I was dreaming, and that’s when I started suspecting that maybe M83 had hit it right on the head with their title and concept. This album is about a mile wide and an inch deep. But often that is what dreams are: they are infinite sea to wade in, never letting the water reach past your ankles.
This double-album certainly covers a lot of ground, but the intentioned grandeur could have probably stood out more in a smaller room but Gonzalez is not interested in being contained in any way, which lends to feeling that Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is unending. In fact, if anything keeps this album from getting top reviews, it’s probably the 72-minute length. Here, he roams a three-story mansion, weaving ambient synth through walls of dreamscape. The textures chosen are incredible selections of electronic riffs, haunting vocals, and undercurrents of punchy beats. Each song is strung together with minute-and-a-half trance like threads, increasing the listener’s submergence in the story.
The first single, “Midnight City,” is probably going to become that song that comes on at every party, and you’re going to love dancing to it the whole way through, even when the saxophone kicks in. “Reunion,” “Ok Pal,” and “Steve McQueen” carry similarly punchy beats and catchy melodies, without ever losing their edge. The child narrator on “Raconte-Moi Une Histoire” (which will forever be known as the frog song) is charming enough to legitimately make you want to listen to the whole story. If this kid told the world my dreams, they’d probably become best sellers on audio-tape. “Soon, my friend” gets close to becoming the eye of the storm, but the swells and crescendos still keep it from kneeling down warmly with the listener.
If this is a re-telling of a dream, Gonzalez is one of the better storytellers I’ve come across. While it takes a few listens to begin to connect with individual songs, your persistence will be rewarded. So yes, Gonzalez is incredibly correct in the album’s scope and “epicness”. Yet, by smothering more intimate moments with synth, distortion, and awe, the dream never becomes too tangible. You’re not going to find the sing-a-long song of the year here, but you should be more than happy to settle for an album of such beautiful swells, because if you don’t, you’re missing out.
Natalie McNeill
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