Tag Archives: Joules Scott-Key

Metric-Synthetica.

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“I got nothing but time, so the future is mine.”

 

You wait and you wait. You wait until you want to cry because it hurts to wait. You want to destroy any record that isn’t THIS record. Then it comes out, or the band stream it before it comes out. Your body freezes. You cannot form words. Your mind resembles this : “FKESORJEROITUPOGJUEPOUFKJSDTUIEYOGAQHU!!!!!!!” You want to go up to people and just tell them about this record. You want to tell them EVERYTHING it makes you feel. Thing is, you no of nobody who will give two fucks about what you feel. So what do you do? You play the record, and you unleash all your emotions into some kind of review in the hopes someone responds with, “I understand. I feel the same.” That’s all you search for. You want someone to connect to the bullshit you write. Thing is, it is your feelings, so it cannot be bullshit. You hope that a Metric fan far (or near maybe) away reads it and loves the record as much as you do.

With that brief outburst done (there’s going to be more) I’m not even sure if I can control how I feel right now. I don’t think I can. You see, all of Metric’s record mean the world to me. I cannot pick a favourite song or record. I love each very much. Each record holds a lot of meaning to me. Live It Out gives me hope. Fantasises got me through hell. Old World Underground is always going to be my “baby.” Grow Up And Blow Away is perfect. Even their EPs are held as highly. I just don’t think I can put all my love out there . I just can’t.

A change of pace is always needed, but cling onto your youth kids. That is the vibe you are going to get from this record. If you don’t enjoy it, maybe you’ve got too much wax in your ears.

When I interviewed Jimmy and Emily in 2009 it was right after I got dumped. I was totally fine speaking to Jimmy. It was more about the musicianship about the band. As soon as I spoke to Emily, I felt myself just become a mess. At some point I just blurted out why Blindness means the world to me. We spoke about that for a while. I listened back to the interview straight after it was over. It was too personal for me to type up, and I took a vow to never ever type it up. Maybe one day I’ll stop being such an arse and type it up. I’m not sure. Thing is, when you feel that low you want to do all you can to never go back there again. It’s fair to say I’ve never felt that way again. If it happens again, I’ll probably heal myself by typing it up again.

Should probably talk about the record now.

The album opens with the powerful and heart-hitting Artificial Nocturne. It’s 5 minutes and 42 seconds of heaven. I adore the line, “I’m just as fucked up as they say.” I am pretty sure us Metric fans are going to fall so in love with that line and quote it anywhere and everywhere we can. We can be fucked up together, right? This record won’t fuck you up. It’ll fix you up- no problem.

The record is basically a dreaming state. It makes you feel like you are dreaming because it is so bloody ethereal. I cannot find any fault in it. Every song has a euphoric build-up. Every song is perfect in its own way. Every song is the song that sums up how you feel. Every song makes you feel so fucking alive.

Now, I’m going to address something real quick because I reckon it’ll pop up. Remember when dicks said Metric sold out when they did a song for the Twilight soundtrack? As someone who doesn’t understand why someone would enjoy Twilight, I was a bit dubious that my favourite band were going to be part of something I really dislike. I heard the song. I became obsessed with the song. It is a gorgeous love song that makes you think maybe..just maybe, someone will feel this way about you. Or maybe you’ll feel this way about someone. I’m going to assume people will say Metric have sold out with this record. Take yourself away, you cannot call yourself a fan. A band cannot keep making the same record over and over. That’s why I adore Metric. Every record they have put out (I’m including EPs in this) has been different to the previous. They are a band that do not fall into any genre at all.

Synthetica by rights, should make lists of BEST THING TO HAPPEN IN 2012. You see, as it is so close to perfection I think the only people who are going to appreciate this record are the fans. The REAL fans who cling onto every single word Emily sings. Her voice makes you feel like you are floating on a cloud towards happiness. Her voice has got me through some fucking bullshit. Her voice has been comforting arms at 4am when I just didn’t know what to do. I never know what I am meant to do. I may follow my heart, but I have no idea where it is taking me. She has a voice that makes you stare up at the stars, and you feel like you are heading home. Home doesn’t have to be where you currently live. Get up and get the fuck out. Save yourself, because nobody else ever will.

Lyrically, this album is beyond. What I love about Metric is that they have NEVER used pretentious word forms and phrases in order for you to understand. Their words are at a level that make you connect instantly. You connect, and you never ever let go. Every song on Synthetica makes you feel like it was written for YOU. You feel as if Emily is just singing out everything you have been holding in for sometime. When you listen to Synthetica it is like you can let it all go. Let it all out, then let it go. Metric have always written songs that just feel like a huge healing process, I don’t really know of any other band that make me feel this way. You’ve already seen what Emily said what the record was about and all it stands for. But, incase you missed what she said :

“SYNTHETICA is about staying home and wanting to crawl out of your skin from the lack of external stimulation. SYNTHETICA is about forcing yourself to confront what you see in the mirror when you finally stand still long enough to catch a reflection. SYNTHETICA is about being able to identify the original in a long line of reproductions. It’s about what is real vs what is artificial. What else?

SYNTHETICA is about insomnia, fucking up, fashion, all the devices and gadgets attached to our brains, getting wasted, watching people die in other countries, watching people die in your own country, dancing your ass off, questioning the cops, poetic justice, standing up for yourself, sex, the apocalypse, doing some stupid shit and totally regretting it but then telling everyone it made you stronger, leaving town as a solution to unsolvable problems, owning your actions and owning your time.”

When I read this description, I felt my body become covered in goosebumps because I was filled with hope, joy and every positive feeling I could handle. As I listen to this record, I realise that all Emily said Synthetica is- it truly truly is, and more. It has gone so far beyond what I expected. I have no idea what I expected, but I knew it was going to be incredible. I guess my biased opinion didn’t let me down on this one.

So I guess you can call this a really bad album review. I didn’t really review it. Why should I? I just wanted to tell you that Metric are about to put out one of the best records of the year, and these songs…christ..these songs are going to do something to your soul. The Wanderlust features Lou Reed and that alone pretty much cements this as one of the best records of the year. The production is stunning, as with all their records. The musicianship is as tight as ever. This is well and truly worth the wait.

“I won’t ever make them make a loser out of my soul.”

Metric-Youth Without Youth (new song.)

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Dear Emily Haines, will you marry me?

Alright. I love Metric. I love Metric more than I love cereal. This is a lot of love. I became a fan of Metric when Live It Out came out. I felt like I had heard something truly life changing and inspiring. I was right, I’m rarely right. But sometimes, I get it right. Metric have been a huge part of my life since then. I love them as much as I love Garbage, The Kills, The Cure and Morrissey. That’s how big my love is.

And now? Now we FINALLY have a new song.

Emily Haines’ voice is like a cuddle. It comforts you when you are full of despair and uncertainty. Right now, I need this song. Right now, this band are saving my soul. Once again. I fucking owe Metric BIG TIME. Their lyrics have always made me feel like, “you know what..it’ll be okay.” Maybe it will be, maybe it won’t be. I don’t know. Nobody does. All I know is right now, I have an amazing song on a constant loop. I can’t turn it off. I don’t want to turn it off.

Now, you see what always happens when a band that have been away for a while is that you get some idiots going on about “OH THEY TOTALLY SOLD OUT.” Bitch, please. Metric haven’t sold out at all. It’s called EXPERIMENTING. Would you really want a band to keep making the same record over and over? Hell no. That’s boring. Metric constantly give you something you have never heard before with each record (EPs included too.)

If I could put everything I feel into words, I would. But I truly can’t. Metric leave me speechless. Metric make me proud to have certain traits. Traits I am told I need to get rid off. Fuck it, I won’t. I’m keeping them. Metric voice vulnerability in a way no one else does. Metric voice all those empty feelings that are unclear. They say what you can’t. But make you feel like you can do all the things you thought you couldn’t do.

I’m going to bring back to the band’s quote on the new record :

“SYNTHETICA is about insomnia, fucking up, fashion, all the devices and gadgets attached to our brains, getting wasted, watching people die in other countries, watching people die in your own country, dancing your ass off, questioning the cops, poetic justice, standing up for yourself, sex, the apocalypse, doing some stupid shit and totally regretting it but then telling everyone it made you stronger, leaving town as a solution to unsolvable problems, owning your actions and owning your time.”

Synthetica is the record that you will have as a crutch to carry you through. Much like all their records before.

Metric.

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There’s always a band that you can just go back to for anything. You can use them as an emotional crutch or you can just play them when life decides to go your way. The singer’s voice is so angelic; you cannot believe such a voice exists. When you saw them live, you remember how mental the guitarist went and you could see the sheer passion in each band member’s faces as they were on stage. They’re not just a band, they are more than that. They say everything others won’t say, they make music others are scared to play. They are quite possibly still the underdog, but the singer once said, “Even the underdog gets to have its day.” You cling onto her saying that because you can relate to it. You’re still waiting to have that day, but as each day passes and you get older- you realise something. You realise that this band have been a huge part of your life. You’ve adored them since the very start. You’re proud to call yourself a fan. When you saw them live, it was at such a shut part of your life- but their show slowly but surely dragged you out of the rut you were stuck in. You’re still not sure what the cause was, you can’t go back for answers. Move forward and move to your favourite band. That’s exactly what you did. You screamed every single word back. Am I boring you? I probably am. It’s 1.30am and I’m rambling before I start again.

Everything above is how I feel about Metric.

What Metric are to me is hard to put into words, and with that lengthy introduction I have metaphorically shot myself in the foot. What I dislike is that I can pour all these feelings into describing my love for a band; I can do that- no problem.  Yet I struggle a stupid amount to tell someone how I feel about anything. Not in a “woe is me” kind of way. I guess I just get nervous and frustrated when I have to talk about myself, I guess with writing like this I can do it in a different way. I can be me when I write about a band. I guess it’s my way of saying to certain people, “You got me wrong, I’m not a twat.” But hey, their loss is my gain. It just allows me to write like this. Maybe it is personal, but I want whoever reads what I write to feel it the way I do. I want them to think about the band they love when I write this way. I cannot write without putting my feelings into it. Maybe it makes me a bad writer, maybe it makes me sound like some obsessive fool. Maybe I am. I just love music; it’s the only thing that can make me feel like this. It makes me feel alive when nothing else does. It’s my life.

The way a song can make you feel 10 feet tall but then just break your heart has always fascinated me. How a song can just describe your life in one short sentence is mind-blowing beyond belief. How a certain key change can cause this spark to light up inside you throws you into a whirlwind. Again, this is how I feel about Metric.

Dead Disco was the first song I ever heard by Metric, “Everything has been done.” That line just stuck with me instantly, it still does. Years have passed since I first heard Metric, and that line is still relevant- possibly more now than ever. Old World Underground, Where Are You Now has so much going on. The aggressive riffs, the harsh drums, the raw bass and the angelic vocals. All of this is what makes Metric so appealing to me. Emily Haines is quite frankly highly underrated as a front-woman. She can hold a crowd just as well as anyone else- male or female. She goes wild on stage, she just grips you. I remember when I saw them live, and she held my hand for like 2 seconds, it was just amazing. I also had the honour of doing a phone interview with Jimmy and Emily in 2009.

What I loved about the interview is how personal it was. I didn’t feel like I was talking to members of my favourite band, I felt like I was just talking to two people I sort of knew about music. It was such a relaxed vibe; it was one of the best interviews I’ve ever done. As it was personal, I’ve never wanted to type up the interview. It was just before Fantasies was released and I had a promo copy. I talked to Emily about a song off the album that at that point in my life, just described it. To be able to tell the person who created a song that means the world to you what it means to you is such a euphoric feeling. It is truly remarkable, it always stays with you.

Even if you’ve never seen Metric live, you can easily sense how much they love the music they create on record. The passion just oozes out, it’s just bloody marvellous.

Live It Out is easily my favourite record by the band. I love every single song on the album, especially the title track. The lyrics are, well they just mean a lot. The whole album is just perfect from beginning to end. The album starts with Empty; the build-up in this song just makes you stop still. You cannot do a thing, “There is no way out, the only way out is to give in.” The way Emily sings this is stunning, then the guitar, drums and bass kick in and smack you pleasurably in the face- followed by Emily’s voice echoing, “Shake your head it’s empty.” This live is just out of this world, for 10 minutes they played so brutally. I’ll always hold this gig so dear to me. I’d waited years to see them, and I was front row amongst around 300 people. It was pure bliss.

Poster Of Girl is perfect. Emily singing in French, how could you not lose your mind to it?! Too Little Too Late is probably my favourite off the album, as soon as I publish this entry I may have switched it to Handshakes or something.

Metric’s music just means the world to me, it owns my heart. When I can’t sleep, I usually play some of Emily Haines solo work. It’s just gorgeous. Her delicate voice over a piano is so comforting; it just sends you off into a dream-world.

Acoustic Metric is stunning too, as is their cover of The Strokes song, The End Has No End. Everything about Metric just appeals to me. They posses the Punk ethic and hints of Riot Grrrl- I think it’s because they came out just as the Riot Grrrl movement was fast falling into the unknown, of course it still exists- but it’s underground, I guess that’s what makes it still highly important.

In over a thousand words I have tried to convey my love for Metric into words, instead I think I’ve just ranted like a tired idiot. I am tired; I’ll go to sleep as soon as I’ve posted this.

I just love Metric and I firmly believe they do not get the credit that they are rightfully owned. However, part of me loves this because they feel like “my” band. Nobody really knows of my unconditional love for this band and all they mean to me. I hold them as highly as Morrissey and Bob Dylan (they’ve also covered Dylan brilliantly.) They just mean everything to me, nothing in life is perfect- but I think Metric are close to it.

They are what true musicianship should be. They’ve never changed their sound to fit in, they’ve never stopped doing what they love to adapt to certain trends. They have always been honest and true to themselves.

When I listen to them, they just reignite this fire in me that is all too often being put out, when a band can do that to you- it’s fair to say that they are your life/a huge part of it.

“There’s no glitter in the gutter. There’s no twilight galaxy.”