Metric’s “Art of Doubt” premieres on NPR Music’s First Listen, Out 9/21 on MMI/Crystal Math

OUT SEPTEMBER 21
VIA MMI/CRYSTAL MATH MUSIC

Album artwork

“‘Dark Saturday’ cranks up the guitars— and their buzzing amps— for a rocker that claims new-wave common ground between the GoGo’s and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs…” “Metric seize a grandiose moment on their new song ‘Now or Never Now.’” “Metric packs a punch with new ‘Dressed to Suppress’ single & video.” “Singer Emily Haines rips us apart with her vocal performance.” “Guitars burn and cool accordingly.”

NPR Music’s “First Listen” is premiering Metric’s new LP in its entirety, noting “Without fully shedding Metric’s synths — or brightening Haines’ messaging, which remains awash in class critiques and accounts of troublesome human behavior — Art of Doubt is the sound of a band that’s only reinvigorated by the arrival of its 20th anniversary.” Read/listen HERE. The band’s seventh full-length album is out September 21 via MMI/Crystal Math Music and available now for digital pre-order HERE.

Three singles have been released throughout the summer: “Now or Never Now,” “Dressed to Suppress,” and “Dark Saturday.” Long-time Metric collaborator Justin Broadbent directed the video for “Dark Saturday,” which was shot entirely on an iPhone X and premiered via NPR Music’s “All Songs Considered” who call it “… a raw and ragged new single… a biting track about the super rich.” Watch HERE. Broadbent also directed the video for “Dressed to Suppress,” hailed by Rolling Stone as “an emotive performance video;” watch/share it HERE.

“This is our seventh album as a band,” notes Haines, “and we wanted the first song people heard from it to be ‘Dark Saturday’ as a sonic heads up that our guitars are back in force. Lyrically, the song depicts a dystopian nightlife scene of gaudy wealth where oblivious party girls say nauseating things like, ‘I’m so rich everything’s free.’”

For the first time in the band’s last three albums, guitarist Jimmy Shaw did not co-produce, preferring to turn over the producer mantle to first time collaborator Justin Meldal-Johnsen whose many other musical collaborations include M83, Beck and Nine Inch Nails. The album—which was recorded at Metric’s own Giant Studio in Toronto—was mixed by first time collaborator Tony Hoffer, whose countless credits include Phoenix, Depeche Mode and Air.

“Justin was just what we needed in a producer for this album,” notes Shaw. “He really saw every band member eye to eye and was able to capture what we each do best. It was something I realized I couldn’t do at this stage, having been in the band for so long. We were finally able to focus on just playing again, as we did at the start. Making this album brought us together in a way we hadn’t been for quite some time and I think you can hear it in the music.”

The album is available to pre-order via Metric’s website, https://ilovemetricstore.com, including a variety of bundle options. Limited edition 12″ gatefold color vinyl albums and autographed 7″ Dark Saturday flexi-disc vinyl single packages are sold out, but there are still a limited number of standard black 12″ vinyl albums available along with a signed flexi insert.

All pre-orders come with immediate downloads of “Dark Saturday,” “Dressed to Suppress” and “Now or Never Now” and will ship to arrive on or around the date of release.

Metric also recently confirmed a 20-date overseas headlining tour beginning in Moscow on October 25; tickets are on sale via the band’s website at https://www.ilovemetric.com/tour/. More details are available in the tour video at https://youtu.be/fKDi9MrvSc8.

Photo credit Justin Broadbent

ART OF DOUBT TRACK LIST 1. Dark Saturday 2. Love You Back 3. Die Happy 4. Now or Never Now 5. Art of Doubt 6. Underline the Black 7. Dressed to Suppress 8. Risk 9. Seven Rules 10. Holding Out 11. Anticipate 12. No Lights on the Horizon