M83's "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts" masterfully blends vintage synthesizers and drum machines with shoegaze sensibilities, creating an immersive wall of analog sound. The French duo of Fromageau and Gonzalez crafts evolving compositions that build with remarkable intensity, from the thrashing "America" to the hymnal "In Church." This landmark keyboard album demonstrates that post-rock dramatics can exist without guitars, offering instead a rich palette of throbbing, quivering arpeggios and drones with surprising nuance and color.
