This review covers the electronic track M83 – Don’t Save Us From the Flames.
This track was released in 2005 on the album Before the Dawn Heals Us.
The track starts with a series of snare hits. From there, synths, a drum kit, guitars, and non-lyrical vocals join the track. Everything then drops out.
After that, a synth chord plays, backing the vocals. The vocals have some reverberation applied to it. Every other element then rejoins the track.
From there, everything drops back out. This leaves the chord synth and the vocals again. The guitar then joins the track. A slow snare roll makes an appearance. After a secondary snare roll, everything rejoins the track. Another snare roll makes an appearance. The vocals then join the track. An added couple of synths join the track as the vocals drop out. The notes of those synths slide. Another snare roll makes an appearance.
Everything then drops out again and a piano makes an appearance. This leads the track out.
I generally look at this track sideways here for a number of reasons. You go from a track like Sitting which is an absolutely awesome track in 2001. Then, you go to the track Run Into Flowers in 2003 which is an absolute flop. Then you get to this track. A part of me wanted to believe that maybe the 2003 track was just a misstep and the artist is getting back into their groove. Unfortunately, this track shows that maybe the 2001 track was the fluke.
The first thing that sticks out to me is the vocals. They are so badly washed out that I can’t even really make out any lyrics. Even when the track is quieted down, the vocals are almost inaudible.
The second thing that sticks out to me is the general flow. Everything is so very “on” and “off”. Once, or maybe twice, might be effective to create a, well, effect. In this track, though, it breaks the flow badly. It’s like the track was produced by someone who has a vague sense of what a good track sounds like and just winged it with bad results.
I think the only good part I can think of about this track is that the instruments and electronic elements do reasonably come together. It provides a reasonable sound, but this sound does wear out its welcome for many reasons.
Overall, this is a badly produced track with few positives. The vocals are inaudible and the production quality is very low. There is no real flow. The only thing that even comes close to saving this one is that the instruments and synths do sound half decent when they are all together. Still, this is a track that I think can be skipped over anyway.
Score
6/10
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
