M83 + Shura

Since he hit 30, youth-obsessed Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez, the electronic whiz behind M83, has adopted a no-holds-barred approach to his work. Case in point: M83’s latest release, Junk, a soaring pastiche of ’80s pop aesthetics—neon synthesizers, skronky sax a la George Michael and all—which veers into sickly sweet hooks more unabashedly than ever. He isn’t pulling any punches onstage, either; his previously tiptoeing vocals have waltzed to the front and center, gaining both clarity and decibels.