Released 18-05/08, Metric Music International 

Reading about Metric, one of the first facts that is thrown in your face is that they had a song –'Front Row'- featured on the US medical drama Grey’s Anatomy (for the uninitiated think E.R. with more romance). Fully cognizant of this fact the discovery that this single, and its parent album, deals in punchy electro-tinged rock, rather than the wretched sub-Coldplay balladry usually featured on that program, is something of a surprise.


That “Sick Muse” is every bit as slick and effective as this television series is a happy coincidence.The chorus has sleek, high velocity guitars rushing underneath the sweetness of Emily Haines’ intelligent and agile vocal melody; it’s the perfect counterpart to the verses’ more subdued wrangling of angular riffs and acoustic guitars. Hitting all the right rhythmic marks Haines also manages to strike some sublime notes using a falsetto at first and including some tasty sharps in the final bars. The final chorus even features a glissando as the song’s winning refrain plays out “Everybody, everybody just wanna fall in love/everybody, everybody just wanna play the lead.” It’s a sugar rush slice of pop perfection.

Posted In Single Reviews, May 13 2009. Words - Richard