M83

The Los Angeles-based synth-pop band M83 is a project fronted by vocalist, songwriter and producer Anthony Gonzales (13 March 1988). He formed the band whilst still living in Antibes, France where he was born. The band started out as a duo with Nick Fromageau, a former bandmate of Anthony Gonzales from the time when the two men played in the rock band My Violent Wish. After releasing a self-titled album in 2001, the record didn't make much of an impression outside mainland Europe. However, in 2003 the band's follow-up album Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts received widespread critical acclaim in the US. Capitalising on the international interest in the band, Mute Records re-issued the first album and it gained the recognition it deserved. After a promotional tour to publicise the second album, Nick Fromageau left to pursue a solo project which he named Team Ghost. Anthony Gonzales went on to run M83 as a solo venture and has since released a steady stream of albums and singles from 2005's Before the Dawn Heals Us and 2008's career-defining '80s pop-influenced Saturdays = Youth to his highest-charting record to date, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (2011), which was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards. Following a five-year break, he returned in 2016 with seventh album Junk, the first release since Digital Shades Vol.1 without longtime vocalist and keyboardist Morgan Kibby. The sequel to Digital Shades Vol. 1, Digital Shades Vol. 2 (DSVII), arrived in 2019 while Fantasy, released in March 2023 and guided by lead single "Oceans Niagara," became his ninth full-length record.