M83 Surprise Releases 'Chapter 1' Featuring Tracks 1-6 Off Of Forthcoming Album 'Fantasy'

Following the celebrated announcement last month of his forthcoming 9th studio album FANTASY (out 3/17 via Mute) and sharing of transformative first cut "Ocean's Niagara", today M83, aka Anthony Gonzalez, has unveiled "Chapter 1", the first six tracks of the record in their entirety.

In addition to this news, M83 has announced a run of live dates across Europe that includes festivals and three headline shows in Paris, London and Milan respectively. M83 has also since announced North American festival appearances at Just Like Heaven Fest and Corona Capital Guadalajara, as well as second shows in Phoenix, Seattle, New York and Oakland due to high demand. All dates are listed below.

For Gonzalez, Fantasy's direction and aesthetic was immediately clear. "I wanted this record to be very impactful live," he says. "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."

Reserved in nature, Gonzalez also sought to continue a trend that has become more prominent in his recent albums. "I wanted to be more present lyrically and vocally even if that was daunting at first," he states. "I thought if I could achieve that, this album will be more personal than those that came before."

Fantasy, M83's 9th studio album, proves a towering sensory delight and marks his most personal album to date, an alternate world that Gonzalez has created as an escape from the disconnected world we live in today.

Sonically expansive yet tenderly intimate, Gonzalez harnesses a juxtaposition of the unreachable and the omnipresent in a way that leaves the listener feeling unabashedly, heart-blazingly alive.

M83 is the musical vision of French multi-instrumentalist Anthony Gonzalez. Over the span of two decades, he has firmly established himself as an artist whose work transcends mere escapism in favor of full-on worldbuilding. Whether it be via his celebrated studio albums, film soundtracks, or compositions for stage productions, Gonzalez has proven that nothing surpasses his ability to perfectly encapsulate a specific time, emotion, or sense of place.

Initially sparked to inspiration from shoegaze, Gonzalez' body of work spans and blurs multiple genres and realms, from the synth-laden dream-pop found on Saturdays = Youth to the ambient soundscapes of Before The Dawn Heals Us. He has seen grandiose global success with the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, that features explosive hit single "Midnight City", and has performed sold out tours around the world.

His career has also flourished in the film world, where he has soundtracked the silver screen for films like French director Gilles Marchand's 2011 'Black Heaven', 'Oblivion,' Tom Cruise's sci-fi flick, his brother's films 'Knife & Heart' (starring Vanessa Paradis **** The Guardian) and 'You And The Night', as well as soundtracking Cirque Du Soleil's VOLTA.

Listen to the new songs here:

Watch the new music video here:

M83 2023 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:

4/9/2023 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren
4/10/2023 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren
4/11/2023 - Albuquerque, NM - El Rey Theater
4/13/2023 - San Antonio, TX - The Aztec Theatre
4/14/2023 - Austin, TX - Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater
4/15/2023 - Houston, TX - The Lawn at White Oak Music Hall
4/16/2023 - Dallas, TX - House Of Blues
4/18/2023 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works
4/19/2023 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern
4/21/2023 - Philadelphia, PA - Franklin Music Hall
4/22/2023 - Washington, DC - The Anthem
4/23/2023 - Boston, MA - Roadrunner
4/25/2023 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
4/26/2023 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
4/28/2023 - Montreal, QC - MTELUS
4/29/2023 - Toronto, ON - HISTORY
4/30/2023 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
5/2/2023 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
5/3/2023 - St. Paul, MN - Palace Theatre
5/5/2023 - Denver, CO - Mission Ballroom
5/6/2023 - Salt Lake City, UT - Ogden Amphitheater
5/8/2023 - Portland, OR - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
5/9/2023 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
5/10/2023 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
5/11/2023 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
5/13/2023 - Pasadena, CA - Just Like Heaven Fest
5/14/2023 - Paso Robles, CA - Vina Robles Amphitheatre
5/16/2023 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
5/17/2023 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
5/20/2023 - Guadalajara, MX - Corona Capital Guadalajara

M83 EU DATES:

6/7/2023 - Sigulda, LV - Sigulda Castle
6/8/2023 - Vilnius, LT - Lukiškės Prison
6/10/2023 - Helsinki, FI - Sideways Festival
6/17/2023 - Neuchatel,CH - Festi'Neuch
6/19/2023 - Milan, IT - Magnolia Summer
6/24/2023 - Prague, CZ - Metronome Festival
6/27/2023 - Paris, FR - L'Olympia
6/29/2023 - London, UK - Roundhouse
7/6/2023 - Bilbao, ES - BBK
7/7/2023 - Hérouville Saint Clar, FR - Festival Beauregard
8/12/2023 - Pezinok, SK - Grape Festival
8/13/2023 - Budapest, HU - Sziget Festival
8/19/2023 - Biddinghuizen, NL - Lowlands Festival

Photo credit: Anouck Bertin

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