M83

Fantasy

It could be a matter of right time and right place, but this new album from M83 was very welcome at a time like this. It's not as exciting or as impactful as Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, however, I did find this album to be easy, breezy, dreamy, and generally just a feel good, spiritually healing listen. It gets off to a particularly strong start with Oceans Niagara and Amnesia. The former is a dream pop jam that occasionally bursts with colourful energy, while the latter is a little more upbeat ... read more

When standing on its own merit, Anthony Gonzalez has created a really phenomenal record with Fantasy. Few artists currently releasing music have such a way with synths and creating sonic environments, it seems almost effortless how he creates entire records that sound like they hold entire worlds in them.

With Fantasy he hasn't reinvented the wheel, he has retreated into his older sounds that are especially prominent in 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'. I think that this record is the version of ... read more

Fantasy is a beautiful record that is as vast as an ocean but as shallow as a puddle. This style of synth-driven music really appeals to me so I was naturally inclined to check it out. Starting out it's fantastic with it's beautiful reverb soaked synths that really create a beautiful atmosphere for the project. The first 4 songs are actually really strong and quickly became favorites. I thought they were well written engaging and kept me coming back for more. The beauty and atmospheric of the ... read more

Gorgeous on the ears and makes for great background music but leaves very little to remember. Definitely more of a vibe album than one to properly listen to.

There are a few songs I liked, but overall it didn't really leave an impression on me. It just wasn't very interesting.

didnt like this one a whole lot

While M83 used to write some dreamy, textually rich snythpop with his great 2000s run, the 2010s is where Anthony kind of lost me. The faux nostalgia of Junk and the new age ambience of DSVII didn't do much for me, and neither did the fan favorite Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, which is like "filler: the album" to me, outside a few amazing singles. My expectations were pretty low for Fantasy, though I will say, I think this is the best M83 record since the fantastic Saturdays = Youth in ... read more

so forgettable, still fine

The vibes are strong with this one. Great atmosphere and sound, but the album is too long and the songs don't have much sonic variety. The album gets quite boring as there are no real highlights.

enjoyable (★★★☆☆)

Suffers from its length, but there are some great songs on here.

'Fantasy' is a good enough exploration of the dreamy synthpop landscape that made M83 conquer many hearts more than 10 years ago. I've never been big on such music but it did bear appeal at some points and this project seems like a return to that. Nevertheless, it's mostly toothless to stand past an initial listen. Besides being overtly long (I'll confess I didn't return to chapter 1 once the full album was released), it features some truly unremarkable moments. Its highlights lay on tracks ... read more

M83's "Fantasy" is yet another dream pop/shoegaze hybrid record to add to an already stellar discography. Taking a more ethereal approach to this record, the whole album genuinely feels like a celestial fantasy; drifting through time and space. Opting out of the more commercialized sound, this project is one giant cohesive unit front to back.

Favourite: Oceans Niagara, Dismemberment Bureau, Kool Nuit
Least: Laura

When an artist resorts to a return to their old sound because nothing they've tried since has worked, it's usually a sign their career is running its course.
M83 has boasted some incredibly strong projects throughout their discography; such as 2003's 'Dead Cities', one of my favorite shoegaze albums, and their most popular outing; 2011's 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming'. Both of these are fantastically unique in their own right, setting a high skill-ceiling for Anthony Gonzalez and his bandmembers. ... read more

There’s not much I can really say about this, as I feel it’s a whole lot of nothing. M83 tries multiple times to pump in the synths and bring the production to a grandiose level, but it just doesn’t seem to work every time on this record. Sure there’s nothing I hated here, but I also didn’t like an over hour experience of mostly stale dream and synth pop. The only real positive I have is that the run from “Oceans Niagara” to “Earth To Sea” ... read more

4/10

A bloated, insubstantial piece of nothing

Fav tracks: <none>

Not quite as good as Chapter 1, but still enjoyable.

Yeah, it's about what you'd expect from M83. Colourful, synth driven songs that sound straight out of the 80's, however, they don't really have much of a punch to them.

They all sound really lacklustre and fail to bring me in as much as I'd hoped, and as someone who loves his music, I didn't really mind that much, but I was really hoping for more.

Regardless, the album is still pretty consistent, I'm happy to see M83 make his return, and I ... read more

In parts it feels like a sequel to the amazing "Hurry up, we're dreaming" album. It's expansive and ethereal with some great bops scattered throughout, it just doesn't feel as magical overall and the final moments were too meandering for my taste.

Fav tracks: amnesia, earth to sea, deceiver, fantasy, laura, dimbemberment bureau
Least fav: radar, far, gone

Discovering Anthony Gonzalez and the glorious music he and his band create as M83 has been a great treat of mine from the last 10 years. My introduction was through the magnificent double album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, but have since gone back to discover the expansive sound of early albums Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts and Before the Dawn Heals Us and hear where the current incarnation was first realized on Saturdays = Youth. After taking years off to do soundtrack work and delivery ... read more

This album truly blew me away. On my first listen I didn't get it, which is partially why this review took me so long to make. I went into the album with my own expectations for what it should be, but that ended up being the wrong approach. This album has an uncompromising sound that makes this listener come in on its own terms. by the third listen I went in with no more expectations and was captivated by the sounds on this thing. The synths were so big throughout the whole record and every ... read more

Extremely cohesive album with some bonkers production value. A great mix of upbeat synth pop/synth rock with some slow, dream pop ambient tracks. Bumping up rating for re-listenability, as I have listened to this album 3-4 times within the first two days of hearing it for the first time.

not his best, not his worst
I think that nothing can be better than hurry up were dreaming

The progression of Fantasy is direct but can jitter at times. I also respect the switch into a more rock style for M83 but wish they leaned into it more, a missed opportunity. A somewhat decent handful of songs that deserve to listen though.