M83 – Oceans Niagara
2023 · Directed by Yann Gonzalez
17K Likes
Best comments
1.“Every time I listen to M83, I feel like I'm the main character.”
More comments
- 2.“Heard this for the first time walking through the Atlanta airport. I was there for a job interview – my 4th time interviewing for this position – and I finally got the offer. Next thing I knew, tears were streaming down my face... but they were happy tears.”
The story
M83 is Anthony Gonzalez, and Oceans Niagara was his comeback shot: the lead single from Fantasy, his ninth album, released in January 2023. He made the record with a band in a room, jamming, and said he wanted it to hit hard live the way Before the Dawn Heals Us did. The track runs about two minutes before anyone sings, just swirling synths over guitars and a driving krautrock pulse that keeps climbing.
The video is a family affair. Yann Gonzalez, Anthony's brother and the filmmaker behind Knife + Heart and You and the Night, directed it, the first music video he'd made for his brother. Three stylish friends set out on an epic quest through a surreal dreamscape while a five-eyed villain steers their every move from an alien arcade machine. Live action meets psychedelic animation, with retro video games, sci-fi movies and comics all in the mix. Yann said they raided the stuff they grew up on together: French-Japanese anime, horror films and kids' TV from the '80s and '90s.
Two brothers, thirty-some years later, still playing in the same toy box.
