In 2003, M83 was still a duo, formed by Southern Frenchmen Anthony Gonzalez and Nicolas Fromageau, before the latter went on to leave Gonzalez to pursue the project solo after the tour of this second album. Two years beforehand, the pair had made a name for themselves with an eponymous debut which established their love for vintage-sounding synths. This Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts is an album that shows their more melancholy side, quite the opposite of a postcard. They pair their electronic music influences (Tangerine Dream, Jarre, Moroder) with shoegaze-esque structures, placing notable emphasis on the guitar sounds creating these almost psychedelic passages: on the cool opener Unrecorded which confirms the group’s head-in-the-stars trademark or on the sleeper hit Gone, more soaring than ever. The United States would have to wait until the following year to see this album released there (in 2004), but since then M83’s success across the pond has never been refuted. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz