Junk
by M83
  • Record Label: Mute
  • Release Date: Apr 8, 2016
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 162 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 128 out of 162
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 162
  3. Negative: 14 out of 162
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  1. TSBTobi
    Apr 10, 2016
    5
    First of all, I must admit that M83 is one of my favourite bands - probably even my most favourite band. I really like all of their Albums, some are only quite okay (Digital Shades), some are extremely nice to listen (Self-titled-album, Dead Cities, Saturdays = Youth) and some are absolutely great (Before the Dawn and especially Hurry Up, We're Dreaming - my favourite Album, not only byFirst of all, I must admit that M83 is one of my favourite bands - probably even my most favourite band. I really like all of their Albums, some are only quite okay (Digital Shades), some are extremely nice to listen (Self-titled-album, Dead Cities, Saturdays = Youth) and some are absolutely great (Before the Dawn and especially Hurry Up, We're Dreaming - my favourite Album, not only by M83, but in general). The soundtrack works are also really interesting.
    And then, there is Junk. I would really like to call this another great M83 Album, but I just can't...

    Yes, there are some really cool Songs on Junk, for example my favourite track, Road Blaster - it's probably the closest Anthony comes to the synth-pop-heights of Midnight City and Reunion. Also the instrumental tracks The Wizard and Tension are really great and remind me of one of the reasons why I love M83 so much: Beautiful and emotional synth melodies, carefully and thoughtfully arranged and produced.
    Solitude is kind of the dark horse of the Album, reminds me of the emotional M83 songs like Wait, Outro or Farewell/Goodbye - though it does not transport the same amount of emotion for me.

    Then there are the songs that are still quite okay and nice to listen: Do It, Try It, Go!, Walkway Blues (which has great verses and a very interesting instrumental part in the end, but an incredibly awful vocoder-sung-chorus), Time Wind and Bibi the Dog (another vocoder-experiment in the middle section that has gone completely wrong)

    Laser Gun starts quite okay, but in the end it turns into a real awful mess. Sunday Night 1987 is a bit boring and doesn't give me the goosebumps that I expect from M83's music. The two other ballads, For the Kids and Atlantique Sud, are just awful, they sound like some stereotypic cliché-loaden-ballads that could be performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, but not on a M83-album.

    All in all, Junk is not completely bad but it can not stand for my high expectations. There are some great ideas, even some great wole songs, but also a lot of... yeah, Junk.
    I often missed the old M83-feeling on this record: Where are the power, the deep emotion and the epic soundscapes of songs like Unrecorded, Teen Angst, We Own the Sky, Wait and Outro? Where are the catchy and beautiful melodies of Sitting, Kim and Jessie, Couleurs, Midnight City and Reunion?
    Let's just hope, Anthony will bring them back very soon...    … Expand
  2. Tom_Bombadil
    Sep 21, 2016
    4
    Look, I'm not even mad at this one existing (I, for some reason, could predict in advance that this would be a huge disappointment, so I technically didn't get less than I expected), but I'm actually kinda... confused. How's that Anthony Gonzalez managed to come to the conclusion that the most rational direction to take for his new album would be going full garbage, I just don't know. ThisLook, I'm not even mad at this one existing (I, for some reason, could predict in advance that this would be a huge disappointment, so I technically didn't get less than I expected), but I'm actually kinda... confused. How's that Anthony Gonzalez managed to come to the conclusion that the most rational direction to take for his new album would be going full garbage, I just don't know. This is music that very evidently is trying to be, ironically I guess, "junk", and that's a shot that obviously backfires. The songs are cheesy, terribly produced, sometimes annoyingly maximalistic, always surrendered to their own self-indulgence, and yet most of the time very, very boring. The great soundscapes of M83's last two records are disappeared here, as well as the poignant teen-drama that Anthony knew how to articulate so well in songs like "Kim & Jessie" just a few years ago. Junk has basically nothing to offer more than its awkwardness.… Expand
  3. katnip79
    Apr 15, 2016
    5
    I've been waiting for this album for five long years. I'm an M83 fan, tried and true. I saw them live in 2012 and pre-purchased tickets for this year's tour. My license plate says "ILUVM83". About a month ago I listened to Do It, Try and that's when my concern started.

    I understand what Anthony is trying to do here. He is a brilliant artist in my opinion. Since Hurry Up, We're    I've been waiting for this album for five long years. I'm an M83 fan, tried and true. I saw them live in 2012 and pre-purchased tickets for this year's tour. My license plate says "ILUVM83". About a month ago I listened to Do It, Try and that's when my concern started.

    I understand what Anthony is trying to do here. He is a brilliant artist in my opinion. Since Hurry Up, We're Dreaming was released, my love for the album continues to grow. Just when I think I'm going to be tired of it, I'm not. Practically every song on HUWD was a masterpiece. Shockingly, Midnight City is actually my least favorite song on HUWD.

    This is a review of Junk though. I've listened to the whole album about four times now hoping it will grow on me. When I first listened to the album I was in my car cracking up because I thought "you've done it again, Anthony". I'd never heard anything like it since the 70s and 80s. Only, as the album wore on, I started to become more and more disappointed. I understand artists doing a 180 during their career to try a different sound; but, the nostalgia of this album fades fairly quickly.

    HUWD had heavy New Wave and 80s pop influences. The reason it worked is because people enjoyed/enjoy New Wave and 80s pop today. Junk, on the other hand, borrows from 80s elevator music and TV show themes. How many people do you know look back longingly on elevator music and TV show songs and say, "wow, I miss that music"? You don't have to answer, because the question is rhetorical.

    This my biggest problem with Junk. In HUWD and Saturdays = Youth, sure there were hints of 80s pop and New Wave sound, but you knew you were listening to new music. However, when listening to Junk, there are some songs you would have no idea were released past the year 1990. For example, when I listened to Moon Child for the first time, I couldn't believe how old it sounded; and not in a nostalgic way. The best review I've read on this album was from T. Cole Rachel from Pitchfork. He says, "this kind of pure homage to slick '70s and'’80s FM ephemera is so exacting in places, it almost makes you wonder: What is the point of remaking this into something new?" Herein lies my problem with Junk. The music is so closely copied to its source of inspiration, there is nothing new and enjoyable about it.

    The sole gem from the album is Solitude. I find it's beautiful strings and minimalist lyrics refreshing. On first listening, I had to Google to see if it was going to be used in an upcoming James Bond film. The epic nature of the track reminded me of so many former Bond songs and I can see myself adding the song to one of my staple playlists.

    Is Junk a cool album? Sure. Does it reflect how much influence Anthony Gonzales takes from the 1980s? Absolutely. Will it stand the test of time for replay factor? Not for me.

    I've probably put too much expectation in this album for it to perform as well as HUWD. All the HUWD remixes from other artists and the film soundtracks M83 composed between 2012-2015 kept me going between the release of HUWD and Junk. I will have to continue to revisit those songs as I wait for the next M83 studio album that will hopefully come sooner than in another five years.    … Expand
  4. AndresGZ97
    Apr 19, 2016
    4
    this album is something complety different of the previous music by M83, i love the old m83 but this is no good at all, i hope they releases good music in the future.

Awards & Rankings

40
#40 Most Discussed Album of 2016
81
#81 Most Shared Album of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. Austin Chronicle
    Sep 30, 2016
    40
    M83 are master recyclers of Eighties soundscapes on 2011 double-album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. First offering since then, Junk attempts the same, but jumps the shark in the process.
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  2. Magnet
    Jun 1, 2016
    70
    The touch is lighter, with more interest in groove and atmosphere than climax. [No. 131, p.59]
  3. Record Collector
    May 20, 2016
    40
    Particularly bad is For The Kids, which could come straight from an amateur production of High School Musical (complete with repellent husky spoken-word middle eight), while the just up-to-scratch Beck track, Time Wind, and his presence on the record as a whole, only really serves to illustrate how poor the songs now are.
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