Last week, New York City found itself blanketed by a formidable snowstorm. As the snowflakes danced in the air and the city streets fell into a serene hush under the night sky, I found myself drawn to M83’s second album, Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, as the perfect soundtrack for such an evening.

Before Nicolas Fromageau parted ways with the band and Anthony Gonzalez transitioned towards more conventional pop arrangements complete with saxophone solos and teenage angst themes, M83 released two predominantly instrumental albums. While the debut album didn’t leave much of a mark, their sophomore effort saw the French duo channeling the powerful, repetitive energy of bands like Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Dead Cities offers a uniquely French interpretation of post-rock splendor, weaving layers of sound through drum machines, analog synthesizers, and heavily processed guitars.

The album exudes a sense of in-betweenness, an eerie ambience that perfectly matches its title. As you listen to the softly recurring melody of “Be Wild” with its gradual build-up, it conjures images of wandering through a city that was once teeming with life but now stands eerily empty. The track “America” encapsulates the unsettling panic reminiscent of The Twilight Zone episode “Where Is Everybody?”, with its intense drums, My Bloody Valentine-style guitars, and disquieting synthesizers reaching a peak early on.

The album sets an unsettling tone right from the start. It opens with “Birds,” a 54-second chant that immediately signals something amiss:

A computerized voice starts off cloaked in digital distortion, gradually transforming into a calming sound that somehow feels deceptive. The narrative insists there is no sun, no birds, no flowers, beginning with a lie before diving into the standout track “Unrecorded.”

“Unrecorded” serves as the album’s manifesto. With its blend of analog arpeggios, driving percussion, droning guitars, manipulated vocals, and sweeping synth strings, it creates a sonic blizzard. Listening to such tracks, it’s surprising that it took Hollywood another decade to tap M83 for a film score, finally happening with 2013’s Oblivion.

Flowers are growing

Clouds are looming and I am flying

The computerized voice is initially bathed in digital distortion, slowly resolving into a soothing tone that inherently feels untrustworthy. There is no sun. There are no birds. And there are no flowers. The album opens by lying to you before launching into highlight “Unrecorded.”

“Unrecorded” feels like the mission statement for the record. Analog arpeggios, driving drums, droney guitars, manipulated vocals, and cinematic synth strings all combine in a wall of snow-bound sound. Listening to tracks like this, it’s shocking that another 10 years for Hollywood to enlist M83 to score a film (2013’s Oblivion).

M83 would eventually go on to record shoegaze-indebted retro pop, scoring hits like “Kim & Jessie” and the absolutely inescapable “Midnight City.” But before that, the group explored something more cinematic and open-ended.