M83 – “Midnight City” (video)

“Midnight City” has been kicking around the binary lanes for a while now, but with the parent album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming out this week the track has got an official video, and seems poised to cross M83 over into mainstream success — and rightly so. Previous album, Saturdays = Youth, was a revelation of sorts; spearheaded by tracks like “Kim & Jessie”, the long-players sound was a manifest fantasy of imaginary John Hughes soundtrack albums, revealing there to be genuine life in the slow-coming, oft-predicted, now full-blown ‘80s revival.

However, with “Midnight City” M83 has surfed the chillwave; nodding to shared analogue touch-points with the scene, while delivering something far more substantial than championed acts like Washed Out have managed thus far. Big, bold and chuffed with life, the real delight of this track kicks in at 3:03, with an utterly sublime sax solo that’s had me wearing down the repeat button since first play. Sax solos themselves went down with the good-ship ‘80s, and no-one has quite managed to resurrect them since; however M83 may have just cracked it via this Tears for Fears scale blast of beauty.

Bin your moodiness, give “Midnight City” a few spins and step outside: Feel the sun on your face – it’s a beautiful day.