The double album is more than just an added amount of music; it’s a statement telling the public “the songwriting is so good that a whole extra album had to be packed onto this bad boy to do it justice.”

Can M83’s newest release, “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming,” live up to the boldness of the ever-intimidating double album?

M83’s task is even more daunting when you consider that it’s a one man band, Anthony Gonzalez is the only real member of the French Shoegaze/Electronica outfit. One man has to craft enough worthwhile material to fill a double album release, a daunting task indeed.

Not to spoil the surprise, but M83 takes the challenge with gusto and crafts “Hurry Up” into what can only be described as a landmark album, weaving a massive tale of dreamy electronica and shoegaze that produces almost incomprehensible levels of texture, depth and atmosphere.

Despite totaling well over an hour, “Hurry Up” is an album that works best as one continuous piece. There are full-length songs with shorter transitional tracks snuggled between them to keep the music moving as one ebbing and flowing body. While listeners can pick and choose their way through the album, they would be missing out on the full experience the music showcases.

The first half of “Hurry Up” unveils its double-album domination with jaw-dropping results. The music goes everywhere, tracks like the killer single “Midnight City,” the French house inspired “Claudia Lewis” and the innocent trip through childhood “Raconte-Moi Une Histoire” are all wholly unique but all play within the realms of M83’s dreamy and beautiful sound. This leads to the music being pushed in all different directions, but never losing its core sound or feeling unfamiliar or forced.

The second half doesn’t exactly branch off in as many directions as the first half but do not think that there is any sort of quality drop for it is just as strong as its predecessor. It stays mainly rooted in dreamy electronica, breaking occasionally for songs like the very Pink Floyd-influenced “Splendor” or quirky additions such as “New Map” featuring flutes, which is just as radical as it sounds.

But the one thing that shines above all else is Anthony’s vocals. The deliveries are just so powerful, just one listen through “Reunion” or “Wait” and you can hear his voice pierce through the music and land on top of everything.

This isn’t to say there is no longer reverberation or layering on the vocals as is par for the course when it comes to shoegaze influence, but Anthony displays a brand of dynamics even with all the effects added in.

“Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” is an absolutely mind-shattering experience. There are not many occasions where 70 plus minutes of music has been this easy to sit down and listen to in one go. With expert songwriting M83 has proven that the mighty double album has been bested and that a landmark creation has been born from its efforts.

Genre: Shoegaze/Electronica

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars