Review: M83 – ‘Do It, Try It’

‘Do it, Try It’ is initially disappointing. Gone are the majestic electrical orchestra sounds of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, which offered track after track of bizarre-yet-beautiful music which cemented both M83’s technical abilities as well as his capability to make amazingly catchy, yet thoughtful, singles. Yet, within thirty seconds of the intial single from his new album Junk, he sounds just like every other slightly indie, slightly electro-pop, Tame Impala rip-off that’s hard not to come across daily in the music scene. Thankfully this isn’t really the case. Sure the song may not necessarily have the grandeur of tracks such as ‘Outro’ or ‘My Tears Are Becoming the Sea’, but it’s an extremely fun single that builds to triumphant levels, and only grows more with each listen.

Simple and sporadic piano chords cover the song, forming the basis for what eventually becomes a cacophony of synths, organs, bass, and all else in-between. Meanwhile basic pitch-shifted and slightly vocodered lyrics are repeated over and over, offering a bridge between the addictive choruses and lines that you’ll no doubt hear extremely drunk people yell at full volume in a club some time in the future. It’s a brilliant blend of simplicity and complexity that makes it attractive from the start and fascinating every time after.

When M83 introduced the song on Annie Mac’s radio one show he talked about how the theme of his upcoming music is how disposable music has become, that albums are slowly dying in way of the singles made for playlists. It’s hard to say what this is going to mean for the album. Will they be all catchy yet vapid numbers such as this one, or is this just to draw in fans, only to pull a complete 180? Either way expect the work to be completed with the same lavish production that M83 puts into every one of his songs, and to see either this song (or a crappy butchering remix) in the charts or your friends clubbing mix soon.

‘Do It, Try It’ is out now via M83 Recording Inc.