Released 27/04/09, Metric Music International

 Metric’s return after four years away is a success, and a fine lesson in rock and roll electronica.  Sounding like a more interesting, less grrrly-girl Garbage its strong from start to finish, with stonking first track-and first single- ‘Help I’m Alive’ leading the charge. Its a great way to start an album, with its tense taut verses and repeated refrain of ‘I can my heart/beating like a hammer’ leading to a rocking, funky chorus.

 Second song ‘Sick Muse’ is going to be the following single release of the album, a somewhat strange choice
considering its far from one of the strongest tracks on here, and like ‘Gold Guns and Girls’ and ‘Front Row’ is pretty forgettable, middle-of-the-road power(ish) pop.  Neither of these songs are bad, it should be noted, but neither do the fit snugly into the two types of songs Metric do  best: driving, instant electro rock numbers (‘Satellite Mind’) or slower synth led ballads where
lead singer Emily Haines s allowed to hold our attention with her strong, emotive voice. 

These latter tunes do have a propensity towards corny lyrics at times, like ‘Twilight Galaxy'. and its refrain of ‘I’m going higher than high/ I’m lower than deep’.  But this ain’t Bob Dylan at the end of the day, and they get away with it.

 Top tracks, other than ‘Help I’m Alive’, come one after another at 6 and 7. ‘Gimme Sympathy’ is a combination of all the things that make Metric good.  Its fast ,there’s some dirtysynths and is something of a coming-of-age tale, with Haines in the chorus stating; 'Oh seriously/You're gonna make mistakes ur'e young/Come on baby play me a song/ Like 'Here Comes The Sun'

Its a corker, with a chorus that’ll have you singing it on your way to work, and still be there on the way back
     
‘Collect Call’ is the other end ofthe spectrum.  Its a haunting, atmospheric relative of early Massive Attack.Although there’s still some pacy drums, the song is incredibly soft, and there’s intense feeling behind the vocal, especially when Haines urges us that ‘if somebody’s got soul/if somebody’s got soul/you gotta make your move.’  Its bloody gorgeous, and will have you keeping an even beadier eye out for that elusive individual with ‘soul.’

 So all in all, Fantasies is pretty good from start to finish and, despite some dodgier tracks, actually flows very
well as an album.  Personal preference is for the slower, more mournful moments, but the bigger, brasher tracks aren’t far off and the variation is key to the albums strength.  Whether or not Metric’s many fans will
embrace it as much as before is unsure, as it does take on a rockier element than previous efforts, but for this poor soul, it certainly does the trick.

Posted In Album Reviews, Apr 27 2009. Words - Tom