With the release of Platinium selling single “Midnight City” and the Grammy-nominated album Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, indie synth pop/dream pop multi-instrumentalist, producer and artist Anthony Gonzalez, the creative mastermind behind M83 not only achieved the rare feat of being both commercially and critically successful, his recording project quickly exploded onto the international map. And as a result, Gonzalez along with his backing band had a relentless two year period touring across the world playing clubs, arenas and major festivals.
JUNK, the long-awaited follow up to Hurry Up We’re Dreaming will be released later this week through renowned indie label Mute Records, and as Gonzalez has explained in press notes, the new album will be yet another example of his artistic evolution, revealing him to be relentlessly experimenting and tinkering with his overall sound and aesthetic. ” want to show different sides of me on this album. I want to come back with something more intimate, yet somehow with . . . less me!” In fact, the album reportedly has Gonzalez employing sounds and styles he hadn’t previously attempted before. “Do It, Try It,” JUNK‘s first single has Gonzalez employing a looped and shuffling piano chord sample, vocals fed through vocoder and distortion and shimmering synths — and in some way, Gonzalez sonically meshes old school house, cosmic house and bubblegum pop to craft a song that sounds as though it drew from Daft Punk, Shit Robot‘s “We Got A Love” and The Chemical Brothers‘ “Star Guitar” but with a playful, mischievous air.
“Go!,” JUNK‘s latest single pairs Mai Lan‘s ethereal yet sultry vocals with Nile Rodgers-like funk guitar strumming, boom bap drum programming, layers upon layers of synths, swirling electronics, a blazing guitar solo from Steve Vai that’s reminiscent of Prince‘s 1980s guitar pyrotechnics and an incredibly anthemic hook to craft a song that sounds as though it cribbed from St. Lucia and 80s teen pic soundtracks — but with a bigger, arena rock friendly vibe.
You can catch M83 on tour — and it includes a NYC area date at Governor’s Ball. Check out tour dates below.
TOUR DATES
April 6 – New Orleans, LA – The Civic Theatre*
April 8 – Dallas, TX – Bomb Factory*
April 9 – Houston, TX – The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall*
April 10 – Austin, TX – Stubbs Waller Creek Amphitheater*
April 12 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre*
April 13 – Phoenix, AZ – Comerica Theatre*#
April 15 – Indio, CA – Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
April 16 – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl*
April 17 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater*
April 19 – Pomona, CA – Fox Theater*
April 22 – Indio, CA – Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
April 23 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst Club*
April 25 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater*
April 26 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater*
April 27 – Missoula, MT – The Wilma*
April 29 – Edmonton, AB – Winspear Centre@
April 30 – Calgary, AB – Grey Eagle Event Centre@
May 4 – Hong Kong, China – Kitec Star Hall
May 7 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – KL Live
May 19 – Sentosa, Singapore – Hard Rock Coloseum
May 21 – Jakarta, Indonesia – Lapangan D Senayan
May 24 – Seoul, South Korea – AX
May 26 – Tokyo, Japan – Studio Coast
May 28 – The Gorge, WA – Sasquatch Music Festival
May 30 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Great Saltair^
May 31 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre^
June 1 – Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland^
June 3 – Columbus, OH – Express Live!
June 4 – New York, NY – The Governors Ball Music Festival
June 6 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE^
June 7 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s^
June 8 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues^
June 10 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music Festival
June 11 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
June 12 – Richmond, VA – The National
June 14 – Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore
June 15 – Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
June 16 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion (with Tame Impala)
June 18 – Dover, DE – Firefly Festival
June 24-26 – Paris, France – Solidays Festival
June 28 – Istanbul, Turky – Zorlu Center
June 30 – Gdynia, Poland – Open’er Festival
July 1-3 – Marmande, France – Garorock
July 3 – Belfort, France – Eurockéennes
July 7 – Bilbao, Spain – BBK Live Festival
July 9 – Lisbon, Portugal – NOS Festival
July 15 – Gräfenhainchen, Germany – Melt Festival
July 17 – Ostrava, Czech Republic – Colors of Ostrava Festival
July 22-24 – Ontario, CA – Way Home Music and Arts Festival
July 23-24 – Detroit, MI – MOPOP Festival
July 29-31 – Montreal, QC – Osheaga Festival
Aug 10 – Oslo, Norway – Øya Festival
Aug 11 – Gothenberg, Sweden – Way Out West Festival
Aug 13 – Helsinki, Finland – Flow Festival
Aug 15 – Budapest, Hungary – Sziget Festival
Aug 19-21 – Biddinghuizen, Netherlands – Lowlands Festival
Aug 25 28 – Charleville Mézières – Cabaret Vert Festival
*With Yachts as opener
*# With Yachts and BØRNS as opener
@ With Okay Kaya as opener
^ With Bob Moses as opener
