M83’s “Midnight City” plays like a glorious sonic struggle between smoothly crooned funk and whirring, squawking synth music.
The song begins with screeching notes which arrange themselves into a mesmerizing beat. The bass advances, but it is quickly buried beneath a huge barrage of drums and more whirring keyboards. These keyboards soften the edges of the central riff, creating a ghostly, angelic chorus in the background that ramps up majestically in double time.
But the intensity of the hook is unsustainable, and it all fades, leaving the plodding bass. Drums remain neutral, tattooing a sharp, unrelenting beat regardless of the activity around them.
Anthony Gonzalez pleads almost unintelligibly then slips away just in time to avoid another grand squealing avalanche. This fight between groovy trance and hypnotic chaos continues until Gonzalez throws in the final masterful touch: a saxophone.
The song ends like Hall and Oates on steroids and too much Red Bull. Everybody wins. But don’t start listening to this anywhere near midnight—you’ll never get to sleep.
Grab the free download right here!
