M83 Returns to Instrumental Form on a Subdued New Album
Anthony Gonzalez's tenth M83 album largely sets lyrics aside and recalls the project's early instrumental era. The review argues that despite nods to Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, the compositions often lack the drama and momentum of his strongest work. It compares the record more to Gonzalez's film scores and Digital Shades releases than to M83's main studio albums.
M83’s tenth studio album, I Wrote You a Letter, arrives in 2026 via Other Suns and is classified as electronic/rock. Anthony Gonzalez remains the project’s only full-time participant. The record is largely instrumental and marks his least lyric-focused proper album since Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts, excluding the Digital Shades collections. It also reunites him with Benoit de Villeneuve for the first time since that earlier album.
The opening track and lead single, “Blister Sunrise,” builds tension before cutting to silence and then erupting. “Feeding Time” samples the computer-generated vocals from Dead Cities. Gonzalez said he aimed for spontaneity rather than calculation and described the result as punk, a claim the review challenges.
This review may shape how longtime M83 listeners and electronic-music fans approach the album, potentially lowering expectations for those seeking the project’s earlier scale. Newer listeners drawn to Gonzalez’s film-score work could find the subdued instrumental direction more accessible. The discussion may also influence how critics frame M83’s legacy, though a single review is unlikely to alter the broader commercial or cultural standing of an established act.