Metric are back!
Oh Canada!
Yes, the Torontonian 4-piece known as Metric are coming back this year with their follow-up to 2005’s Live It Out. The album will be titled Fantasies, and hits stores on April 14th. April really is shaping up nicely, isn’t it? Great Northern, Delphic and now Metric – not too shabby, I must say.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’d know that lead singer Emily Haines has been enjoying a fair amount of critical praise for her solo efforts as Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton. So why go back to Metric? As the story goes, after 2 years of singing ’sad songs’, Emily had an interesting solo show in Toronto where she told an audience ‘I don’t want to play these songs anymore’. She then began a Q&A with the audience, and ended the show by inviting them on stage for a performance of ‘Live It Out’. After the show, she sought out her former bandmates and began the process of writing the band’s 4th studio album.
Given that event, it’s no surprise that the few tracks from Fantasies available for streaming seem fairly upbeat, at least on the surface. There are no quiet, meditative piano ballads to be found in the bunch. No dark consultations with Dr. Blind. Instead, we have heavier percussion, with warm synths and guitars front-and-center, much like the band’s previous efforts. Though I’d say the band have backed off their discopunk origins, somewhat. These new tracks make them seem a little looser, a little warmer. It’ll be interesting to see what else the band have in store for us.
You can stream several tracks below, and if you pre-order Fantasies at ilovemetric, you can not only get the album early but get a free mp3 of the album version of ‘Help, I’m Alive’. If you aren’t ready for that level of commitment, you can snag a live version of the same in exchange for an email address.
In the meantime, my favorite track from 2005’s Live It Out
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Fantasies Tracklist:
Help I’m Alive
Sick Muse
Satellite Mind
Twilight Galaxy
Gold Guns Girls
Gimme Sympathy
Collect Call
Front Row
Blindness
Stadium Love
Tags: metric
Not to crazy about “Help” but I’m loving “Gimme Sympathy!” Always nice to have Metrix back in the mix :)
Ha, figures Keath! I was more into ‘Help’ :)