M83 – “Feelings” Video (NSFW)

M83 – “Feelings” Video (NSFW)

French studio wizard Anthony Gonzalez does not seem to be in any hurry to follow up his last proper studio album, 2016’s Junk. But this week, M83 will release a new instrumental LP called DSVII. It serves as the sequel to the 2007 ambient album Digital Shades Vol. 1, and it showcases a different sort of M83 experience. Rather than the triumphant brain-melter pop songs that Gonzalez can sometimes conure, DSVII promises to be more of an atmospheric head trip. We’ve already heard singles “Temple Of Sorrow” and “Lune De Fiel,” and today, a day before the release of DSVII, Gonzalez has shared the new jam “Feelings.”

The slow-building “Feelings” is probably closer to Gonzalez’s soundtrack work than it is to what you’ll find on most M83 records. It calls to mind the hazy synth-glimmers of ’80s Tangerine Dream film scores. But it also has a satisfying arc to it, with a climactic burst of melody and a drawn-out denouement.

The video, from director Bertrand Mandico, is the third part of a surreal short film called Extazus. It continues the narrative from the last two M83 videos, but it’s more about bugged-out imagery than it is about story. The clip takes place in some sort of hazy, pastel-lit ’80s fantasy-land, and it features crystal-headed monsters and sensual impalings and things that look like penises but are not actually penises. You should not watch it at work, but you can watch it below.

DSVII is out 9/20 on Mute.

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