M83

The idea of releasing a double album in a time where downloading and singles reign supreme among dwindling attention spans is a pretty bold move. But Anthony Gonzalez doesn't care. As M83, he retreats to his own Neverland, where teenhood never ends and the Smashing Pumpkins own the stereo. Upon making his sixth full-length, Gonzalez recalled the impact that band's third album, Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, had on him. With Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, he has taken everything he learned from Billy Corgan and channelled it into his ever-changing music. Like all of his previous albums, Gonzalez was once again looking to expand M83's sonic horizons, and in doing so sparked an open season for his ambition to run wild across the 22-song format. The results range from stadium rock ("Reunion") and '80s synth pop ("Ok Pal") to prog-infused balladry ("Splendor") and the most remarkable song of his career so far: "Raconte-Moi Une Histoire," a four-minute journey into the vivid imagination of a young girl who dreams of becoming a miraculous frog. But the triumph isn't how he's made M83 such a progressive machine, it's how he's strung everything together so scrupulously ― the requisite singles ( "Midnight City"), the grandiose experiments ("Echoes of Mine") and the compelling interludes ("Another Wave From You") ― to make an absorbing double album with two distinct sides and zero filler. Where he goes from here is anybody's guess (Gonzalez himself has admitted he has no clue), but Hurry Up is just the kind of statement to transcend the unwelcome trends in music consumption that try to keep albums like this from being made.