M83 shares new tracks from upcoming album ‘Fantasy’: Listen

M83 is getting ready to release what may be his most personal album to date, the upcoming release, ‘Fantasy.’ Ahead of the March 17th release date, the French producer and multi-instrumentalist mastermind behind the project, Anthony Gonzalez, has shared six songs from the album as an EP titled ‘Fantasy – Chapter 1.’

Containing the previously released single, ‘Oceans Niagara,’ the ‘Fantasy – Chapter 1’ EP also includes the new tracks, ‘Water Deep,’ ‘Amnesia,’ ‘Us and The Rest,’ ‘Earth To Sea,’ and ‘Radar, Far, Gone‘ providing a preview of nearly half of the upcoming 13 track album. The atmospheric production and focus on ambient guitars and vocals is an artistic decision made by M83 to both better connect with his audience as well as providing the space to create a unique live presentation with these songs:

“I wanted this record to be very impactful live. The idea was to come back with something closer to the energy of Before The Dawn Heals Us. The combination of guitars and synths is always in my music, but it’s maybe more present on this new record than on the previous ones. I wanted to be more present lyrically and vocally even if that was daunting at first. I thought if I could achieve that, this album will be more personal than those that came before.”

Ahead of the release of ‘Fantasy,’ this short EP will certainly delight and engage fans as the album ebbs and flows, much like the ocean themes used in the titles of the tracks on the album. This is clearly a journey for the listener, one that M83 has been building towards throughout his storied career, and now has found the inspiration and courage to bare more of his soul with these tracks.

Check out the incredible ‘Fantasy – Chapter 1’ EP out now ahead of the release of the full-length album on March 17th.

Image Credit: Rama via Wikimedia Commons | License: Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 France (CC BY-SA 2.0 FR)