80s nostalgia is mostly just an excuse to pull on the ripped denim, use an entire can of Aqua Net on teased-to-death bottle-blonde hair, and generally play dress-ups in the clothes of a by-gone era. There are other functions of nostalgia, though, and no one knows this better than Anthony Gonzalez, the man behind the M83 moniker. Gonzalez’s love for gated drum sounds and massive synths is nothing but sincere, and his appropriation of the best moments from the Decade That Taste Forgot can be powerful and emotive without the need for ironic distance.

The best example of this, and possibly the best moment in Gonzalez’s career to date, is the epic 'Midnight City'. On the first single from Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, Gonzalez crams every sonic signifier of the 80s into four short minutes, with everything from thundering toms to an honest-to-God sax solo. It could have been ridiculous, an accidental comedy track poking fun at the bombast and excess of the era, but instead it’s a thrilling bit of melodrama with irresistible energy.

Gonzalez knows that nothing evokes the sound of a city at night like the 80s could, and here it works beautifully, taking you on a dazzling flight through canyons of glassy-sided skyscrapers and reflected streetlights. This is the 80s of Wall Street, of American Psycho – the lapels are wide, the cocaine is unending, and someone, somewhere, is listening to Huey Lewis.

In many ways, 'Midnight City’ and the song that precedes it, Intro, are a summary of the M83 name to date – the synths are big, the drums are bigger, and the vocals (supplied by Zola Jesus on Intro) smeared with reverb. It’s an aesthetic that has produced some transcendent music, but Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming bears the hallmarks of an artist expanding his palette. Part of this is a reflection of the format – a double-album is usually the sign of an ambitious mind (or, failing that, a bloated concept).

Like the Smashing Pumpkin’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the discs are informally divided into vibrant, ecstatic dance numbers (disc 1) and meditative dream-states (disc 2). These boundaries are hazy, though, and the real indicator of Gonzalez’s creative restlessness is not the scale of the album, but the sheer variety of sounds on hand. More impressive still is that he so often succeeds, even when outside his comfort zone.

For every ‘OK Pal’, which sits a little too easily alongside the narcotic shoegaze of his last album, Saturdays = Youth, there are three or four genuine surprises. Working on his indie credentials, Gonzalez cross-breeds Grizzly Bear with Bradford Cox’s Atlas Sound side-project on disc 1 closer ‘Soon, My Friend’, to heart-stopping effect. ‘Train to Pluton’ is Kraftwerk‘s Trans-Europe Express with added steel drums, while ‘Raconte Moi-Histoire’ is an adorable and silly fable, built around the voice of a small child talking about a magic frog and its psychedelic effects with the kind of silliness and sincerity that only a child can manage.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is perfect: there are moments where it wanders with the good-natured aimlessness of a senior citizen in a department store, and the retro textures can become wearing after prolonged listening. None of that hurts the album, though – for its flaws, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is still a hypnotic, exhilarating and sincere record, with endearingly outdated enthusiasm.

Review score: 8.5/10