Album Review: Metric - Synthetica

The Canadian legends from Metric are probably best known for their integration of well-applied synthesizers with an indie-rock backdrop, and as of 2012, that’s how their latest offering introduces us to their new face; the female –fronted pioneers of mixing epicosity with simplicity have returned with a musical vengeance, and the synthesizers are both beautiful and haunting this time around, an artifact of a time long since passed and a glimpse into the future of music all at once.

It would be unfair really to describe Metric’s new album as indie, it goes far beyond that, and beyond that wall of expectation there is a real expressionist painting being hung, "Youth Without Youth" for instance, sounds much more Muse than The Killers, and their artfulness is not limited to just one song, an injection of industrial-style synthesizers not merely a novelty.

That being said there is a little more room for variety; as great as the sound perfected on this record is it does beg the question of ‘if this is what Metric are capable of, what more could they do?’ and while this album does scream of creativity and deserves recognition, there is a little something to be said about the band’s potential to experiment a little more.

But that’s never a bad thing, it only speaks to their talents how much more it seems could be heard from them.

An example that almost breaks the barrier there is the heavily-electronic "Synthetica"; with a musical backdrop that almost sounds like a level from Sonic The Hedgehog and liberating lyrics, this song is much more in the direction of Justice than Muse, and that disparity really works at giving the album more life, and more room to breathe.

4/5

"Synthetica" is out June 12th through Metric Music International/Mom + Pop.

Edward Strickson