M83

M83, the project of French electronic artist Anthony Gonzalez, emerged from Antibes in 2001 with a sound that merged shoegaze textures, synth-pop grandeur and cinematic sweep. Named after the spiral galaxy Messier 83, the project initially featured Nicolas Fromageau, who departed after 2003's Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts. Gonzalez's fourth album, Saturdays = Youth (2008), channelled 1980s teen movie nostalgia through layers of analogue synthesisers and reverb-drenched guitars, but it was 2011's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming that cemented his reputation. The double album spawned "Midnight City", a track whose saxophone hook and neon-lit atmosphere became synonymous with early 2010s indie culture, appearing across television and film soundtracks with unavoidable ubiquity.

Gonzalez's maximalist approach, drawing from My Bloody Valentine's sonic density and John Hughes' adolescent yearning, positioned M83 as orchestrators of widescreen emotion rather than mere electronic producers. His work on the Oblivion soundtrack (2013) confirmed his capacity for science fiction grandeur. M83 remains a study in controlled bombast, transforming personal memory into universal, stadium-sized catharsis.