M83’s Fantasy is the stuff of neon dreams—nostalgia of a distinctly 21st-century variety. The album opens with the delicate acoustic guitar of “Water Deep,” which builds to a colossal soundscape and eventually transitions into the similarly water-themed “Oceans Niagara,” punctuated by Anthony Gonzalez’s space-age proclamations of “Beyond adventure!”
The latter track’s accompanying music video is like a Rosetta Stone for contemporary aesthetic interests, its phantasmagoric blend of soft-focus cinematography and sincere optimism placing Gonzalez squarely in the zeitgeist that he and his revolving stable of cohorts helped usher in. More than two decades since M83’s self-titled debut, though, Fantasy doesn’t sound like the work of an artist with nothing left to prove to anyone but himself.
A few scattered moments notwithstanding, something that’s conspicuously absent here are the instantly gratifying pop hooks of past M83 tracks like 2008’s “Kim & Jessie.” Instead, Gonzalez lets the songs on Fantasy slowly unravel, unconcerned with immediately getting to the point. “Earth to Sea,” for one, undergoes copious dynamic shifts, oscillating between danceable new-wave verses and an enthralling chorus, filled with bittersweet hopefulness: “If my sister calls/Tell her I love her…I think I’m falling into the deeper end.” More cynical listeners might interpret the song’s hopepunk sloganeering (“To the edge of wonder”) as saccharine juvenilia, but there’s an authenticity to Gonzalez’s reverie that makes it hard to deny.
Later, “Deceiver” luxuriates in lush synth sounds for almost three minutes before introducing a beat, followed by bright guitars, mellotron, and layered vocals, making for a gorgeous spin on the Tangerine Dream-style dream-pop that Gonzalez sources so enthusiastically. In a similar vein, the title track builds from eerie choral singing to the four-on-the-floor grooviness of nu-disco funk with ease, complete with Gonzalez’s silly scat singing and affected falsetto.
But while tracks like the vulnerable, guitar-led “Radar, Far, Gone” offer some variety early on, Fantasy is largely dominated by its more sweeping, synth-heavy songs. Consequently, tracks like “Sunny Boy” don’t quite hit with the same impact following four tonally and structurally similar ones. The first three minutes of the melancholic “Kool Nuit” are the sole highlight of the album’s final stretch, though even that song opts for even more synth-laden dance-rock.
Gonzalez’s tendency for self-indulgence and penchant for repetition keep Fantasy from reaching the previously attained heights of albums like Saturdays=Youth. Yet, even as M83’s throwback sound has lost some of its novelty due, in part, to pop culture becoming saturated with (comparatively vapid) ’80s nostalgia, Gonzalez’s non-ironic sensibilities and bright-eyed ambition effortlessly outshine even his most reverent copycats.
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