The band has released nine studio albums, including the Grammy Award -nominated Hurry Up, We're Dreaming , in addition to two soundtracks. Gonzalez records primarily on his own, with numerous guest musicians.
Their sound has been described as dream pop , new wave , shoegaze , as well as ambient. Anthony Gerard Gonzalez born 13 March [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] grew up in Antibes, France, together with his brother Yann. At 17, Gonzalez bought a synth to record a demo, which he sent to a number of French labels. When Paris-based Gooom Records seemed interested, he recruited Nicolas Fromageau to "help me because I didn't feel like I had the shoulders to carry the project on my own". In spring , while Gonzalez was still in college, M83 released its self-titled debut album recorded on an 8-track.
Gonzalez returned to the studio to record the group's third studio album, Before the Dawn Heals Us , released in January In , after the Before the Dawn Heals Us US tour, Anthony Gonzalez continued to explore a musical direction already heard on earlier M83 tracks and began writing and recording a collection of ambient works. The resulting project was called Digital Shades Vol.
It is intended to be part of an ongoing series of ambient works. The album features a more focused approach to song structure and form, and Gonzalez stated that the main influence of the album came from music of the s: "I think that '80s music is such a brilliant period for music history.
It was the occasion for me to do a tribute to this '80s music, but [it was] also a tribute to my teenage years because the main theme of the album is being a teenager, and being a teenager means a lot to me.
