Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
After the commercial breakthrough of their 2009 album Fantasies, it would seem kind of unfair to ask Metric to do anything differently on their next outing. That album perfectly took their usual tuneful blend of hooky new wave and spooky synth pop and blew it up to stadium-huge levels while adding more emotional content than ever before. It was a trick that seemed so improbable in the first place that it would be crazy for the group not to try re-creating it on Synthetica. So they did. The album has the same glossy textures, gigantic sounding arrangements, huge choruses, and open-hearted vocals as Fantasies did, but keeps the instantly memorable songs and exposed emotions intact. It also retains the same balance of super hooky songs and gloomy ballads, hitting you in the gut one minute and sending you off cheerfully singing along the next. (It's the same kind of trick Garbage were able to pull off in their prime, and Metric sound very much like a widescreen Garbage throughout Synthetica.) The success that band has achieved hasn't exactly healed Emily Haines' wounds, and her vocals have the same powerfully aching quality that has always been there -- they cut through the music and right to the heart of the listener. Songs like "Artificial Nocturne" and "Dreams So Real" hit very, very hard thanks to her vocals. Elsewhere, she shows a ton of range on tracks as varied as the dramatic "Speed the Collapse," the creepily cute "Lost Kitten," and the dreamily desolate "Nothing But Time." The band provides capable backing throughout, framing her voice in a soft web of sound and creating modern pop that goes down easily but never bores. Only the unwelcome appearance of Lou Reed on "The Wanderlust" breaks the mood of the record and brings it down to earth a bit. Even with his warbling croak gumming things up, the song is a highlight on an album full of them. That Metric were able to follow up their best record with another just as good is quite an achievement, hopefully something they will do again and again.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
Gavin Brown, Producer, Additional Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Greg Cabli, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Co-Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Additional Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Greg Cabli, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
John O'Mahony, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Additional Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Greg Cabli, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Additional Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Greg Cabli, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Additional Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Greg Cabli, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Additional Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Evan Cranley, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Chris Seligman, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Cabli, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Additional Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Greg Cabli, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Additional Producer - Lou Reed, Additional Vocals, AssociatedPerformer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Greg Cabli, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Additional Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Mixer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, Vocals, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, Producer, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Lenny DeRose, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Engineer, Additional Producer, StudioPersonnel - Greg Cabli, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Co-Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Co-Producer - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Co-Producer
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Co-Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Co-Producer - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Co-Producer
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Co-Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Co-Producer - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Co-Producer
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Co-Producer - John O'Mahony, Producer, Co-Producer - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Emily Haines, ComposerLyricist - James Shaw, ComposerLyricist - Metric, MainArtist - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Co-Producer
℗ 2012 MMI
Gavin Brown, Producer, Co-Producer - Tom Waits, ComposerLyricist - John O'Mahony, Producer, Co-Producer - Jimmy Shaw, Producer - Metric, MainArtist - Kathleen Brennan, ComposerLyricist - Liam O'Neil, Producer, Co-Producer
℗ 2012 MMI
Album review
After the commercial breakthrough of their 2009 album Fantasies, it would seem kind of unfair to ask Metric to do anything differently on their next outing. That album perfectly took their usual tuneful blend of hooky new wave and spooky synth pop and blew it up to stadium-huge levels while adding more emotional content than ever before. It was a trick that seemed so improbable in the first place that it would be crazy for the group not to try re-creating it on Synthetica. So they did. The album has the same glossy textures, gigantic sounding arrangements, huge choruses, and open-hearted vocals as Fantasies did, but keeps the instantly memorable songs and exposed emotions intact. It also retains the same balance of super hooky songs and gloomy ballads, hitting you in the gut one minute and sending you off cheerfully singing along the next. (It's the same kind of trick Garbage were able to pull off in their prime, and Metric sound very much like a widescreen Garbage throughout Synthetica.) The success that band has achieved hasn't exactly healed Emily Haines' wounds, and her vocals have the same powerfully aching quality that has always been there -- they cut through the music and right to the heart of the listener. Songs like "Artificial Nocturne" and "Dreams So Real" hit very, very hard thanks to her vocals. Elsewhere, she shows a ton of range on tracks as varied as the dramatic "Speed the Collapse," the creepily cute "Lost Kitten," and the dreamily desolate "Nothing But Time." The band provides capable backing throughout, framing her voice in a soft web of sound and creating modern pop that goes down easily but never bores. Only the unwelcome appearance of Lou Reed on "The Wanderlust" breaks the mood of the record and brings it down to earth a bit. Even with his warbling croak gumming things up, the song is a highlight on an album full of them. That Metric were able to follow up their best record with another just as good is quite an achievement, hopefully something they will do again and again.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 16 track(s)
- Total length: 01:00:52
- Main artists: Metric
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: MMI - Crystal Math
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
© 2012 MMI ℗ 2012 MMI
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.