(pair of mirrors)

#8. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

“Reunion” 

There is a special category of albums that always seems to weasel their way into listeners’ hearts. They are the albums that seek to sound like life itself. They attempt to capture the inaudible joy of blood flowing through your veins, air pumping through your lungs, and neurons firing in your brain. M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is exactly that kind of album.

I can’t say it any other way – listening to Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, gives me this amazing natural high. The album is hugely atmospheric. You can walk down the street listening to it and you’ll be convinced you’re listening to the soundtrack of your own life. A song like “Intro” conjures images of a beginning of a great adventure. “Midnight City” and “This Bright Flash” capture the feeling of the most amazing night in the world, in the most amazing place, with the most amazing friends. “Soon My Friend” is just about that – missing an incredible person, but knowing that you will be reunited with them soon. “Wait” is a gentle little song, about sad endings, but new beginnings.

And “Reunion”, the standout track of the album, is probably the most magnificent proclamation of undying, earth-shattering love that I have heard in years:

You came out of nowhere, stealing my heart and brain.

Flaming my every cell. You make me feel myself.

Oh oh oh oh oh oh! Will you stay in this land forever?

Across the time and space, a never-ending dance.

A blooming and a trance. You make me feel my soul.

There’s no more loneliness, only sparkles and sweat.

There’s no more single fate. You make me feel myself. 

Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is a laugh-to, cry-to, walk-down-the-street-to, make-love-to, have-an-epiphany-to, and just love-your-life-to album. It’s stunning, magnificent, and real. It’s perfect.

-L