21st Century Music: Metric
21st Century Music are playlists and profiles that focus on artists that have released their music since 2000. These highlight new(er) acts that continue the sound and spirit of the older acts that are highlighted on Ceremony. Click on the streaming service of your choice below to listen to the playlist as you read along.
Metric is one of the best bands to come out of Toronto – ever. That’s saying something, but it’s also testament to the strength and consistency of their material. Yet they are emblematic of the challenge in the modern rock era; that is, to stay a modern rock band. Metric is not a typical band for me to write about on Ceremony, and that’s because they have achieved a level of mainstream popularity that they don’t require attention being brought to them or to be celebrated for a fast fading history – they are here and now. In fact, they are headlining the Field Trip festival here in Toronto this weekend.
Tracing the evolution of this band invites a sense of chagrin. They have moved from a pop-punk band with tight, catchy, guitar-driven songs into an almost all electronic act with songs that have lost their energy, power, and depth. They’ve sought a bigger, arena/festival sound – yeah, they even have a song called “Stadium Love” – and migrated to a danceable, modern pop-synth sound that has paid dividends for them. So kudos to their success, I’m not one to begrudge a band making a living and achieving success, but as has happened with so many other bands of the modern era, they’ve lost me along the way. I’ve barely listened to their last album and have no sense of anticipation for what comes next. Their first four albums, however, well they’re a blast to listen to and, as I said, mark some of the best music ever to have come from my hometown.
Metric was born as only an act from Toronto could be. Formed by Emily Haines and James Shaw, Haines was born in India and raised in Ontario, attending Etobicoke School of the Arts with Amy Millan (Starts, Broken Social Scene) and Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene). Shaw was born in London, England but also raised in Ontario. He attended a music school in Boston where he met future Stars band members, Chris Seligman and Torquil Campbell. There then followed three years at Julliard before returning to Toronto in 1997. It was then he started dating and writing music with Haines, in which they spent the next six years moving between Montreal, Brooklyn, London and Toronto as they pursued a music career and put their band together – Joshua Winstead on bass and Joules Scott-Key on drums. After abandoned demos, a fully recorded and postponed album, an EP, a couple of different labels, floating in and out of the collective of Toronto and Montreal artists that produced Broken Social Scene and Stars, they finally released their first official album in 2003.
Their debut, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, was a fantastic album of punky, power-pop songs. The whole thing ran to a tidy thirty-seven minutes and mixed grungy guitar with thickly-laid basslines and great slow tunes to balance things out. There wasn’t a bad minute of music on the LP. This was followed by their second album, Live It Out, which kept in the same vein but started to allow for broader, more nuanced songs such as the fantastic, slow-build of “Empty.” The slow tunes also showed greater depth and dexterity, best exemplified by “Ending Start.” The third album, Grow Up and Blow Away, was the one they first recorded but abandoned back in 2001. Interestingly, the keyboards played larger in the sound after being used in the background for effects and ambiance on the first two albums, and the hooks were culled from the electronics as well as guitar and bass. It was their initial sound they decided to move away from, but it was telling that with this release it opened the door to a move more into electronica. Regardless, it was another fantastic album and for a modern rock fan like me – who loved a little synth and dance mixed in – it was a hypnotic listening experience.
Metric: Joshua Winstead, Emily Haines, James Shaw, Joules Scott-Key
Despite the brilliance of these three albums, Metric had yet to chart any songs yet had built a strong following. I recall trying to see them during a multi-night stint at the Mod Club on College St in Toronto, and they were solidly sold out. Getting tickets for them next time while on tour for their fourth album, Fantasies, was a little easier as they were now playing the larger space of Massey Hall. It was a sign of the growth of their fanbase and the fact that Fantasies caught on, reaching #6 in Canada and #76 in the US. It was also not surprising that this coincided with their style embracing electronics to a greater degree, now standing even with the guitar at the front of the sound. It was a solid album but in a very different way than the first three LPs had been. The hooks were still there in abundance, and the electronics provided power and drama to the songs that took nothing away from the power-pop sound.
Metric was not heard from again for three years when, in 2012, they released their fifth album, Synthetica. It was an electro-pop album that, while still familiar for their hooks and Haines vocals, was almost entirely a new sound for the band. The guitar was buried in the mix and sounded processed. There were dance beats and the expanded sonic feel, suited for larger venues, that had been hinted at in Fantasies were now riddled throughout. More than a few songs sounded like throwaway pop, such as “Breathing Underwater”. There were several great songs on this LP – “Youth Without Youth” rocked as good as anything prior and “Clone” was great – but it was not as satisfying a listen as the first four albums, lacking the depth and honesty from when their sound was rawer and more natural.
In 2015 came Pagans in Vegas and the conversion was complete to a band I didn’t recognize and an album I couldn’t listen to more than once. There was one good song, “Fortunes,” which was a lovely synth-ballad. Despite my misgivings over the prior two albums, Synthetica went to #2 in Canada and #12 in the US while Pagans reached #5 and #36 respectively. Metric had broken through.
Metric's shows are usually high energy, with Haines leading the way when not behind the keyboards
Now regularly headlining or near the top of the bill at festivals, Metric is a major artist drawing fans across the modern rock and synth-pop genres. I have not seen them since Riot Fest in 2014 and, even then, only watched them from a distance, not interested in fighting the crowds to get any closer. I’m glad I caught them at the cozier confines of Massey Hall when they were still rocking. I won’t be going to Field Trip this weekend, but I imagine there is a divide between the fans that dig their recent albums (most of the crowd) and those more partial to the first albums. That’s okay, I’m very glad and applaud Metric’s success – they deserve it – and they now have a discography that provides music for different tastes, which is also not something to decry.
UPDATE November 2025
As noted in the closing notes of the original profile, published in May 2018, my interest in Metric had waned and I was not following them closely. That has continued to be the case over the last seven years, a period in which they have released three more albums and they now come through town playing the stadiums and arenas of our city.
While I have checked out their albums in passing as they’ve been released, I haven’t dug in for a closer listen until doing this update. I admit I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of the last three albums. Their seventh, Art of Doubt released in September 2018, saw a noticeable shift back into a guitar-heavy, rocking mode that, combined with the electronics, almost shifted into an industrial vibe. Not surprisingly, I note that the album’s producer, Justin Meldal-Johnson, also worked with Nine Inch Nails – which was exactly the vibe I was getting on tracks like “Dark Saturday”.
The next LP, 2022’s Formentera, made its way back into the electro-pop style with emphasis on dance grooves. Its companion, Formentera II, released the following year, balanced out the sound with a greater emphasis on nicely grooved mid- to low-tempo tunes. Actually, it has been their ballads I’ve found myself latching onto more than the up-tempo tracks. “Who Would You Be for Me” was one of the loveliest tunes I’ve heard from them since the likes of Live It Out or Grow Up and Blow Away. It has been a mainstay on my ‘chill out’ playlist for the past couple years. Noticeable also has been a penchant for longer tracks, probably too long in most cases, that has detracted from the accessibility of the work. Case in point was the lead single from Formentera, “Doomscroller,” which clocked in at over ten minutes. It wasn’t a bad song but could not decide whether it was a techno-pop track (the first third), a soft ballad (the middle), or a bluesy rocker (the outro).
Enjoy the expanded playlist from this update with seven new tracks from the last three albums added. Perhaps if you’re like me and pine for the days of early Metric, it might be worth giving the recent LPs a chance and reacquainting yourself with the band. There will be tracks likely to be skipped, but no doubt this is now a mature band that can craft quality and consistent tunes, and there is plenty to like in their later discography.
The Playlist (“song” \ album (year))
“Combat Baby” \ Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003)
“Wet Blanket” \ Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003)
“On A Slow Night” \ Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003)
“Dead Disco” \ Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003)
“Empty” \ Live It Out (2005)
“Glass Ceiling” \ Live It Out (2005)
“Too Little Too Late” \ Live It Out (2005)
“Ending Start” \ Live It Out (2005)
“Grow Up and Blow Away” \ Grow Up and Blow Away (2007)
“Hardwire” \ Grow Up and Blow Away (2007)
“Raw Sugar” \ Grow Up and Blow Away (2007)
“Soft Rock Star” \ Grow Up and Blow Away (2007)
“Help I'm Alive” \ Fantasies (2009)
“Twilight Galaxy” \ Fantasies (2009)
“Gimme Sympathy” \ Fantasies (2009)
“Blindness” \ Fantasies (2009)
“Youth Without Youth” \ Synthetica (2012)
“The Void” \ Synthetica (2012)
“Clone” \ Synthetica (2012)
“Fortunes” \ Pagans in Vegas (2015)
“Dark Saturday” \ Art of Doubt (2018)
“Die Happy” \ Art of Doubt (2018)
“Formentera” \ Formentera (2022)
“Paths in the Sky” \ Formentera (2022)
“Days of Oblivion” \ Formentera II (2023)
“Who Would You Be for Me” \ Formentera II (2023)
“Suckers” \ Formentera II (2023)
