FIRST SINGLE “YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH” AVAILABLE MAY 1st (Album out June 12, 2012)
NEW TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED
EXPERIENCE REFLECTIONS OF SYNTHETICA AT ILOVEMETRIC.COM
METRIC has revealed further details surrounding the release of their fifth, full-length studio album Synthetica.
Synthetica will be self-released globally on the band’s own label (MMI), through a collection of joint venture partnerships and enhanced distribution deals with companies including Mom + Pop Music in the USA, ATC Management in the UK, PIAS for continental Europe, Asia and Africa, Universal Music in Canada, Arts & Crafts in Mexico, Lab 344 in South America and Create/Control for Australia & New Zealand.
Titles for the 11 songs that make up the album are available now and noted in sequence below. Lead single “Youth Without Youth” will be released digitally throughout North America on May 1st.
“Youth Without Youth” tackles the topic of a fraying social state with bristling energy, lyrical complexity and a momentary breakdown guaranteed to get crowds jumping along with the song’s driving rhythm. “I’ve always wanted to do a song with the Gary Glitter beat,” says METRIC guitarist Jimmy Shaw. Shaw produced Synthetica at METRIC’s own Giant Studios in Toronto and at Electic Lady Studios in New York City, where it was mixed by long-time collaborator, John O’Mahony.
Strong beats and futuristic, yet organic sounds propell this new album forward. The first sound you hear on Synthetica’s lead track, “Artificial Nocturne” is a pulsating, grimy throb. It returns as the anchor on gut-wrenching meditation “Dreams So Real”, as well as hypnotic morality twister and album closer, “Nothing But Time.” According to Shaw, “That sound is the foundation of the album. Oddly enough, it’s actually not a synthesizer. It’s a ’60s organ played through a homemade pedal dreamed up by a local wizard who posted an ad on Craiglist. Together they set the emotional tone for the whole record.” In all, fans can expect a powerful, catchy, and lyrically captivating new album from the band.
While fans will have to wait another 2 months before they can hear the whole album, effective immediately they can experience Reflections of Synthetica exclusively at http://www.ilovemetric.com/
The gorgeous album art by Toronto-based photographer/designer Justin Broadbent, depicting an inverted window in an upside-down world, is a fitting cover image to capture the complexity of the music within. “We wanted the artwork for Synthetica to be thought provoking and a little disorienting, an optical illusion which asks you to stop for a moment and consider what you are looking at,” says lead singer Emily Haines. “We were very influenced by images from the Radical architecture movement of the 1960s, and Justin’s representation of the natural world seen through a physically impossible window – or is it a stage? – struck us immediately as the right cover for this album.”
“I like looking into things that are looking into things,” explains Broadbent. “Like a pool reflecting the sky, or a television in a shop window. For the Synthetica cover I tried to create a beautiful landscape that doesn’t sit comfortably with the viewer. We are disoriented among the clouds, flipped in a room without walls. There is a synthetic perfection to the gold curtains. Like fresh lipstick, precious but temporary. Everything else is a mirror.”
METRIC’s previous album, the unforgettable and massively successful Fantasies, was globally self-released by the band outside Canada and went on to sell well over a million singles and nearly 500,000 albums worldwide.
Metric is currently confirmed for select performances on the international summer festival circuit, plus a series of headline dates throughout Europe in June/July which were announced today (ticket pre-order begins Wednesday April 18th at http://www.crowdsurge.com/metric/.)
More at: http://www.ilovemetric.com/
High res media photo(s) and updated band bio are available for download at:http://ilovemetric.com/press/
S Y N T H E T I C A : TRACKLISTING
1. Artificial Nocturne
2. Youth Without Youth
3. Speed The Collapse
4. Breathing Underwater
5. Dreams So Real
6. Lost Kitten
7. The Void
8. Synthetica
9. Clone
10. The Wanderlust
11. Nothing But Time
METRIC – TOUR DATES CURRENTLY ANNOUNCED:
May 26, 2012 – The Gorge, Washington, USA @ The Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch Festival)
May 27, 2012 – Bend, Oregon, USA @ Les Schwab Amphitheater (with Beck)
June 02, 2012 – Kansas City, Missouri, USA @ Live Strong Sporting Park (for KRBZ 96.5 FM – The Buzz)
June 16, 2012 – Belleville, Ontario, Canada @ Big Music Fest
June 26, 2012 – Berlin, Germany @ Postbahnhof
June 28, 2012 – Werchter, Belgium @ Rock Werchter
June 30, 2012 – Istanbul, Turkey @ Mono Festival
July 02, 2012 – London, UK @ 02 Shepherds Bush Empire
July 03, 2012 – Paris, France @ Le Trianon
July 04, 2012 – Amsterdam, Holland @ Melweg
July 07, 2012 – Manchester UK @ HMV Ritz
July 08, 2012 – Oxford, UK @ 02 Academy
August 3, 2012 – Chicago, Illinois, USA @ Lollapalooza Festival
August 5, 2012 – Montreal, Quebec, Canada @ Osheagea Festival