Metric is an indie rock band that was formed in Toronto back in 1998. The band includes lead singer Emily Haines, guitarist James Shaw, bassist Joshua Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key. Synthetica is the their fifth studio album and was released worldwide on June 12th, 2012. I have every album from the band and the one thing I can say about Synthetica is that it isn't their best.
The album starts with a song called "Artificial Nocturne" that opens with what appears to be a build up to a breaking point for the song. It seems to drag out though because when the build up finally breaks, you're already two minutes into the song. Then it kind of fizzles out without really going anywhere. The song itself is alright, but doesn't really give you a chance to enjoy it.
Next up is "Youth Without Youth". I chose to upload the song mainly because it's the first single off the album. This is about as close to previous albums sound on the new record. Usually on a Metric album there are a few songs that can really get you dancing. Synthetica has a few but they are far more electronic sounding compared to previous entries.
"Speed The Collapse" and "Breathing Underwater" are a good example of the bands push towards more electronic sounding music. it seems to focus on Emily's piano/synth playing rather than James and Josh's guitar playing. Both clearly have the standard guitar playing but are more of a back beat and not in the forefront. At points in "Breathing Underwater"its actually kind of hard to tell what your listening too. The guitar and synth's meld together so well that your not quite sure which is which.
"Dreams So Real" is a song that has a sound that the band will probably head towards more in the future. Which is fine. It's what electronic rock music should sound like. The song that follows completely throws off my flow with the album though. "Dreams So Real" has a wonderful steady pulse which drops off and leaves Emily sounding like a small child in the acoustic pop sounding "Lost Kitten" It's not a bad song, but it just doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the record.
The title track "Synthetica" brings me back to older songs by the band. Synthetica almost sounds like it was a leftover from the Fantasies album. It would've fit in there a lot better. It's probably one of the better songs on the album and is the version of Metric that I enjoy. I like them more as a rock band and less like a electro-pop band. The fact that they can pull off both sounds at the same time stands as a testament to their talent.
The only other track that really stood out to me was a song called "Wanderlust". Lou Reed is a guest vocalist on the track and melds nicely with the sound of Emily's voice. Which shocked me to no end. I still think of Lou Reed as a gritty singer from the seventies and eighties. After working with groups like Gorillaz and Metric, he might just be able to re brand himself again.
Overall, I think Synthetica is a album that shows that Metric is evolving. I don't think I like the direction they're heading, but that's just my opinion. I would probably give the album somewhere between a 77/100 rating. Although its not exactly what you're used to hearing from the band, it's still very much a Metric album. A lot of the album is about them becoming mainstream and the cynicism for the future of music in general. It seems like a band struggling with self confidence and image in the public eye. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. But if you like Metric you will like the album. go pick it up.
Buy it here:
http://ilovemetric.com/store/
http://www.amazon.ca/Synthetica-Metric/dp/B0081YSRWU
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/synthetica/id517801411
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