Metric
Metric is an indie rock/New Wave band formed in 1998 in Toronto, Canada. Th… Read Full Bio ↴Metric is an indie rock/New Wave band formed in 1998 in Toronto, Canada. The band members are Emily Haines (vocals, synths, guitar, tambourine), James Shaw (guitar, synths, theremin, backing vocals), Josh Winstead (bass, synths, backing vocals) and Joules Scott-Key (drums). The band name was inspired after a sound called "Metric" that was programmed by Shaw on his keyboard. They were based at various times at Toronto, Montreal, London, NYC and LA.
So far, Metric has released eight studio albums: Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003), Live It Out (2005), Grow Up and Blow Away (2007), Fantasies (2009), Synthetica (2012), Pagans in Vegas (2015), Art of Doubt (2018), and Formentera (2022).
Besides Metric, Emily Haines and James Shaw also perform with Broken Social Scene. Joules Scott-Key and Joshua Winstead have their own side project, Bang Lime. Emily Haines released her debut album Cut in Half and Also Double in 1996 and two records under the moniker Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton: the album Knives Don't Have Your Back in 2006 and the 6-track EP What Is Free to a Good Home? in 2007. She also has been a guest on albums by Stars, The Crystal Method, KC Accidental, Delerium, The Stills and Jason Collett.
Emily Haines was born in New Delhi, India and raised since the age of 3 in Peterborough, Ontario. The daughter of poet Paul Haines grew up as a dual citizen of Canada and India. Her father would often make cassettes of rare and eclectic music for his daughter to listen to and her early influences included Carla Bley and Robert Wyatt. By her teens she followed her parents' footsteps by attending the Etobicoke School of the Arts. There she met Amy Millan and Kevin Drew, with whom she would later collaborate in hHead. Haines and Millan briefly formed their first band around 1990 while at ESA and with songs later written and recorded while at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1992–1993, at Toronto in 1995 and at Concordia University in Montreal in 1995–1996, Haines distributed in 1996 an early effort called Cut in Half and Also Double with a limited number of copies.
James Shaw was born in the UK. He was a student at a Boston music school and was friends with Torquil Campbell, a vocalist who would later form Stars and Chris Seligman, the future synthesizer player of Stars. Torquil had plans to move to New York City and on his suggestion Shaw applied to Juilliard Music School and moved to New York with him. In 1998, Shaw and Torquil returned to Toronto, where Haines met Shaw through mutual friends in the local music scene. Shaw moved to Montreal where Haines was still living and the two worked on filling out each other's projects. The first song made by Shaw and Haines was "Butcher" and eventually they had completed in 1998 several other tracks in their home studio, gathered on Mainstream EP, a collection of demos with an overall downtempo and electronic feel.
In the fall of 1998, Shaw moved back to New York City, this time accompanied by Haines, Campbell and Seligman. There they shared a loft in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. During their two-year stay at the loft, Haines and Shaw were erstwhile room mates with future members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars and TV on the Radio.
Haines and Shaw set off to London in early 2000 and signed a publishing deal with Chrysalis Records. With the help of producer Stephen Hague, Metric worked on a new batch of New Wave/electropop drum-machine paced songs that would form the nucleus of their debut album. The effort dubbed Grow Up and Blow Away, revealed a more musically-layered and mature sound than the earlier Mainstream EP. Haines and Shaw completed the album in April 2001 and by this time had found a label for their release, Restless Records. The album was delayed for years by their record label.
The band performed in New York in early Spring and late Summer 2001, personally circulating handmade CD-R copies of their unreleased music to fans at shows and by mail, eventually giving the music away for free on the internet. Metric at the time was for the most part a studio band and live shows approximated the synthesizer-centered and drum-machine driven sound of the recordings. In the same year they issued a 5-track EP entitled Static Anonymity and two promo singles: "Grow Up and Blow Away" and "Raw Sugar".
In the winter of 2001, Metric had gained two new bandmates: the drummer Joules Scott-Key (born in Flint, Michigan) and the bass player Joshua Winstead. Joules Scott-Key was attending college in Texas was in town with his friend Joshua Winstead performing in the local music scene. Scott-Key and Winstead had known each other for about a decade and they met Shaw and Haines at the Brooklyn loft and at local performances.
On 2 September 2003, Metric released their first official studio album Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? on Last Gang Records. The album was received with positive reviews and it has gone gold in Canada. They released 2 singles from the album, "Combat Baby" and "Dead Disco".
On 27 September 2005, the band released their second studio album, Live It Out on Last Gang Records. The album was well received and has since gone twice platinum in Canada, selling over 200,000 units. They issued 4 singles: "Monster Hospital", "Poster of a Girl", and "Empty". The band has toured the world extensively for several years. They also opened for The Rolling Stones in NYC.
On 26 June 2007, Last Gang Records released Metric's 2001 album Grow Up and Blow Away, after purchasing the rights to the album from band's previous label. In 2007 they released a live EP entitled Live at Metropolis followed a year later by a DVD with the same name featuring a concert recorded from Montreal.
On 7 April 2009, Metric released their fourth album Fantasies on their own label, Metric Music International. In the US it debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers and peaked at #76 on the Billboard 200, in Canada it debuted at #13 on the Canadian Albums Chart and peaked at #6 and in Australia, the album debuted at #48. The album received mostly positive reviews and it's their most successful record to date. They released 6 singles: "Help I'm Alive", "Front Row", "Gimme Sympathy", "Sick Muse", "Gold Guns Girls" and "Stadium Love".
Amazon.com listed Fantasies in eleventh in its "Best Albums of 2009" list. This album was a shortlisted nominee for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize and also won two Casby Awards, the NXNE favourite new indie release award and favourite new album award. On 18 April 2010, the album won the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year at the 2010 Awards, as well as the band winning Group of the Year.
On 27 October 2009, Metric released a 5-track EP called Plug In Plug Out containing acoustic versions of five songs from Fantasies. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Metric, along with several other Canadian music acts, came together in Vancouver to re-record K'Naan's song "Wavin' Flag" to benefit Haiti in a movement called Young Artists for Haiti.
In 2010, the band contributed to Twilight: Eclipse movie soundtrack with a song entitled "Eclipse (All Yours)". In the same year, a previously unreleased song "Black Sheep" was used on the soundtrack of the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. In 2011, Metric issued the live EP iTunes Session.
On 18 September 2015, Metric released their sixth album, Pagans in Vegas.
On September 21, 2018, Metric released their seventh album, Art of Doubt.
On July 8, 2022, Metric released their eighth album, Formentera .
On October 13, 2023, Metric released their ninth album, Formentera II.
EPs
Mainstream EP (1998)
Static Anonymity (2001)
Live at Metropolis (2007)
Plug In, Plug Out (2009)
Spotify Acoustic EP (2010)
Spotify Covers EP (2010)
iTunes Session EP (2011)
The Shade EP [Cassette only] (2015)
were featured in:
3 films
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Cosmopolis
"Handshakes" and "Gold Guns Girls" were used as a radio soundtrack in Test Drive Unlimited.
Official site: http://www.ilovemetric.com
So far, Metric has released eight studio albums: Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003), Live It Out (2005), Grow Up and Blow Away (2007), Fantasies (2009), Synthetica (2012), Pagans in Vegas (2015), Art of Doubt (2018), and Formentera (2022).
Besides Metric, Emily Haines and James Shaw also perform with Broken Social Scene. Joules Scott-Key and Joshua Winstead have their own side project, Bang Lime. Emily Haines released her debut album Cut in Half and Also Double in 1996 and two records under the moniker Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton: the album Knives Don't Have Your Back in 2006 and the 6-track EP What Is Free to a Good Home? in 2007. She also has been a guest on albums by Stars, The Crystal Method, KC Accidental, Delerium, The Stills and Jason Collett.
Emily Haines was born in New Delhi, India and raised since the age of 3 in Peterborough, Ontario. The daughter of poet Paul Haines grew up as a dual citizen of Canada and India. Her father would often make cassettes of rare and eclectic music for his daughter to listen to and her early influences included Carla Bley and Robert Wyatt. By her teens she followed her parents' footsteps by attending the Etobicoke School of the Arts. There she met Amy Millan and Kevin Drew, with whom she would later collaborate in hHead. Haines and Millan briefly formed their first band around 1990 while at ESA and with songs later written and recorded while at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1992–1993, at Toronto in 1995 and at Concordia University in Montreal in 1995–1996, Haines distributed in 1996 an early effort called Cut in Half and Also Double with a limited number of copies.
James Shaw was born in the UK. He was a student at a Boston music school and was friends with Torquil Campbell, a vocalist who would later form Stars and Chris Seligman, the future synthesizer player of Stars. Torquil had plans to move to New York City and on his suggestion Shaw applied to Juilliard Music School and moved to New York with him. In 1998, Shaw and Torquil returned to Toronto, where Haines met Shaw through mutual friends in the local music scene. Shaw moved to Montreal where Haines was still living and the two worked on filling out each other's projects. The first song made by Shaw and Haines was "Butcher" and eventually they had completed in 1998 several other tracks in their home studio, gathered on Mainstream EP, a collection of demos with an overall downtempo and electronic feel.
In the fall of 1998, Shaw moved back to New York City, this time accompanied by Haines, Campbell and Seligman. There they shared a loft in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. During their two-year stay at the loft, Haines and Shaw were erstwhile room mates with future members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars and TV on the Radio.
Haines and Shaw set off to London in early 2000 and signed a publishing deal with Chrysalis Records. With the help of producer Stephen Hague, Metric worked on a new batch of New Wave/electropop drum-machine paced songs that would form the nucleus of their debut album. The effort dubbed Grow Up and Blow Away, revealed a more musically-layered and mature sound than the earlier Mainstream EP. Haines and Shaw completed the album in April 2001 and by this time had found a label for their release, Restless Records. The album was delayed for years by their record label.
The band performed in New York in early Spring and late Summer 2001, personally circulating handmade CD-R copies of their unreleased music to fans at shows and by mail, eventually giving the music away for free on the internet. Metric at the time was for the most part a studio band and live shows approximated the synthesizer-centered and drum-machine driven sound of the recordings. In the same year they issued a 5-track EP entitled Static Anonymity and two promo singles: "Grow Up and Blow Away" and "Raw Sugar".
In the winter of 2001, Metric had gained two new bandmates: the drummer Joules Scott-Key (born in Flint, Michigan) and the bass player Joshua Winstead. Joules Scott-Key was attending college in Texas was in town with his friend Joshua Winstead performing in the local music scene. Scott-Key and Winstead had known each other for about a decade and they met Shaw and Haines at the Brooklyn loft and at local performances.
On 2 September 2003, Metric released their first official studio album Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? on Last Gang Records. The album was received with positive reviews and it has gone gold in Canada. They released 2 singles from the album, "Combat Baby" and "Dead Disco".
On 27 September 2005, the band released their second studio album, Live It Out on Last Gang Records. The album was well received and has since gone twice platinum in Canada, selling over 200,000 units. They issued 4 singles: "Monster Hospital", "Poster of a Girl", and "Empty". The band has toured the world extensively for several years. They also opened for The Rolling Stones in NYC.
On 26 June 2007, Last Gang Records released Metric's 2001 album Grow Up and Blow Away, after purchasing the rights to the album from band's previous label. In 2007 they released a live EP entitled Live at Metropolis followed a year later by a DVD with the same name featuring a concert recorded from Montreal.
On 7 April 2009, Metric released their fourth album Fantasies on their own label, Metric Music International. In the US it debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers and peaked at #76 on the Billboard 200, in Canada it debuted at #13 on the Canadian Albums Chart and peaked at #6 and in Australia, the album debuted at #48. The album received mostly positive reviews and it's their most successful record to date. They released 6 singles: "Help I'm Alive", "Front Row", "Gimme Sympathy", "Sick Muse", "Gold Guns Girls" and "Stadium Love".
Amazon.com listed Fantasies in eleventh in its "Best Albums of 2009" list. This album was a shortlisted nominee for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize and also won two Casby Awards, the NXNE favourite new indie release award and favourite new album award. On 18 April 2010, the album won the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year at the 2010 Awards, as well as the band winning Group of the Year.
On 27 October 2009, Metric released a 5-track EP called Plug In Plug Out containing acoustic versions of five songs from Fantasies. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Metric, along with several other Canadian music acts, came together in Vancouver to re-record K'Naan's song "Wavin' Flag" to benefit Haiti in a movement called Young Artists for Haiti.
In 2010, the band contributed to Twilight: Eclipse movie soundtrack with a song entitled "Eclipse (All Yours)". In the same year, a previously unreleased song "Black Sheep" was used on the soundtrack of the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. In 2011, Metric issued the live EP iTunes Session.
On 18 September 2015, Metric released their sixth album, Pagans in Vegas.
On September 21, 2018, Metric released their seventh album, Art of Doubt.
On July 8, 2022, Metric released their eighth album, Formentera .
On October 13, 2023, Metric released their ninth album, Formentera II.
EPs
Mainstream EP (1998)
Static Anonymity (2001)
Live at Metropolis (2007)
Plug In, Plug Out (2009)
Spotify Acoustic EP (2010)
Spotify Covers EP (2010)
iTunes Session EP (2011)
The Shade EP [Cassette only] (2015)
were featured in:
3 films
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Cosmopolis
"Handshakes" and "Gold Guns Girls" were used as a radio soundtrack in Test Drive Unlimited.
Official site: http://www.ilovemetric.com
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Metric Lyrics
01 Twilight Galaxy Did they tell you, you should grow up When you wanted…
03 Torture Me Get the rope, tie me to the bedposts 'Cause I can't…
05. Calculation Theme I'm sick, you're tired, let's dance Break to love make lust…
06. Wet Blanket Falling for the creep the body leech here he comes Vicious…
1. Grow Up and Blow Away Floating the room Two by two From the womb To the holiday Th…
11 Dead Disco Skip town. slow down Push it to the east coast Step…
2 Glass Ceiling Only know what I'm told, only know what I'm told Fast…
5 Calculation Theme I'm sick, you're tired, let's dance Break to love make lust…
9 Dead Disco Skip town. slow down Push it to the east coast Step…
All Comes Crashing Starting over won't be easy, broken, divided Split tomorrow …
All Yours All the lives always tempted to trade Will they hate me…
Anticipate What did you plan? What did you anticipate? All you demand t…
Art Of Doubt Where do failed imposters go? Burn the book that says you…
Artificial Nocturne I'm just as fucked up as they say I can't fake…
Black Sheep Black sheep, come home Black sheep, come home Black sheep, c…
Blind Valentine Whatever I want, whatever I do, whatever I say Whatever I…
Blindness Send us a blindfold, send us a blade Tell the survivors…
Breathing Underwater I'm the blade You're the knife I'm the weight You're the kit…
Butcher Emily: You're so handsome in this light If only you…
Calculation I'm sick, you're tired, let's dance Break to love make lust…
Calculation Theme I'm sick, you're tired, let's dance Break to love make lust…
Cascades Just keep going strong With whatever it is, yeah That's comp…
Celebrate I'll be standing tall When you call, I'll be at your…
Clone Call me out My regret Only makes me Stronger yet Nothing I'…
Collect Call If the fire's out baby, How you gonna keep me…
Combat Baby We used to leave the blue lights on And there was…
Dark Saturday Somewhere in the south of France Or the Caribbean sea She sa…
Days of Oblivion All the times that now and then appear as only…
Dead Disco Skip town. slow down Push it to the east coast Step…
Descendants I lie awake with a stomach ache And the first man…
Detour Up Get half the way civilized Take a turn, run naked through…
Die Happy So what is this so-so-society? Still drinking that Kool-Aid …
Doomscroller Lining up all the numbers under the names Lining up all…
Down I wondered if you could come and help me, I want…
Dr. Blind The lack of light, hollow sea, Poison beaches, limousines …
Dreams So Real When I get to the bottom of it, I sink Seems…
Dressed to Suppress And we keep speeding And we keep speeding And we keep crashi…
Eclipse All the lives always tempted to trade Will they hate me…
Eclipse (All Yours) Other lives, always tempted to trade Will they hate me for…
Empty There was no way out The only way out was to…
Ending Start All this that is more than a wish is a…
Enemies of the Ocean Out under bright silver skies, I accept it Quick skip to…
Expecting to Fly There you stood on the edge of your feather Expecting to fly…
False Dichotomy Told we could be who we wanted Or get what we…
For Kicks It's all, but it ain't It's all, but it ain't So where…
Formentera Listen, it's hard to say Consequence tied my tongue Life was…
fortunes Oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh Tell me…
Front Row I'm in the front row with a bottle Don't know what…
Gimme Sympathy Get hot Get too close to the flame Wild open space Talk like…
Gimmie Sympathy Get hot, get too close to the flame Wild, open space Talk…
Glass Ceiling Only know what I'm told, only know what I'm told Fast…
Go Ahead and Cry I was floating on by with the morning on high Like…
gold guns All the gold and the guns in the world (couldn't…
Grow Up Floating the room Two by two From the womb To the holiday Th…
Hand$hake$ Say you wanna get in And then you wanna get out When…
Hardwire Giving for chances to Leave the basement life And not the la…
Help I I tremble They're gonna eat me alive If I stumble They're…
Help I%E2%80%99m Alive I tremble They're gonna eat me alive If I stumble They're…
Help I'm Alive (The Twelves Tabloid Mix) I tremble, they're gonna eat me alive If I stumble they're…
Help Iâm Alive I tremble They're gonna eat me alive If I stumble They're…
Help I\'m Alive I tremble They're gonna eat me alive If I stumble They're go…
Help I\xE2\x80\x99m Alive I tremble They're gonna eat me alive If I stumble They're…
Holding Out Holding out for the right time What if the right time…
Hustle Rose Behold the fishnet slut tonight Hustle Rose goes from limb t…
I Will Never Settle This is not the song I wanted to write for you This…
I Will Remember You I will remember you Will you remember me? Don't let let your…
I.O.U Old world underground, where are you now? Subtract my age fr…
IOU Old world underground where are you now? Subtract my age fro…
It's a Sin When I look back upon my life It′s always with a…
Just The Once Seems at the time, it will be just the once And…
Lie Lie Lie (Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie) If it…
Live It Out On the day we were supposed to leave You changed your…
London Half Life Middle-aged, do the low rise on the waist London half-life M…
Lost Kitten Don't say yes if you can't say no, Victim of the…
Love Is a Place There's spring in the air They're sweeping the streets Wind …
Love You Back La la la La la la La la la la la la La…
love-is-a-place There's spring in the air They're sweeping the streets Wind …
Metric-Live It Out On the day we were supposed to leave You changed your…
metric-rock me now The town where she was born Like town where I was…
Monster Hospital Monster hospital, can you please release me? You hold my han…
No Lights on the Horizon It's true, I'm flawed It's all my fault I made every mistake…
Nobody Home I've got a little black book with my poems in Got…
Nothing But Time Steal once Pay twice Advice to heed I won't I might Advice…
Nothing Is Perfect Nothing has come between us Nothing is real (nothing is real…
Now Or Never Now It hurts to turn the radio on Stamina's gone My spirit is…
Oh Please Oh please, don't attempt to placate me Or decide in advance…
On A Slow Night True beautiful one What have you gone and done I can see…
On the Sky Wipe it up, you're capable Of putting back a few…
On the Sly Wipe it up you're capable Of putting back A few when you…
Other Side Ten tonnes may fall, Down from the fallen sky Onto the other…
Parkdale Square in the face, Sony spacecraft Hovering over like a th…
Paths in the Sky Paths in the sky, paths in the sky That's you and…
Patriarch on a Vespa Promiscuous makes an entrance Her mouth is full of questions…
Perfect Day Just a perfect day drink Sangria in the park And then late…
Poster of a Girl Can't stand by myself Hate to sleep alone Surprises always h…
Raw Sugar Sort of wonder why No one said a word Don't you like…
Risk So you got away Something brought you back To the kid that…
Rock Me Now The town where she was born Like town where I was…
Satellite Mind Hold it, I'm about to drop off Let me tell you…
Seven Rules Come on, angel Come and save us Let me see sunrise Give me…
Siamese Cities I said I'm sorry to change my mind It was a…
Sick Muse Watch out Cupid Stuck me with a sickness Pull your little ar…
Soft Rock Show Climb the wall to make the sun rise in time But…
Speed the Collapse All the way from where we came Built a mansion in…
Stadium Wanna make a bet We'll be neck to neck taking off…
Stone Window Yesterday, I left for tomorrow There was nothing after today…
Succexy Lonesome for no one when The room was empty and…
Suckers Summon some willpower to weather the walk Don't run, suffer …
Sugar Mountain Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain With the barkers and the…
Synthetica Some of us are wild ones, ever under wanted I…
The Battlecry Can you turn it up? Let me lay my eyes Let…
The Face Part I All we are All we are All we are All we are All we…
The Governess Who did you say you were? I didn't catch your name Falling…
The Lifestyle Jimmy: Never the lifestyle, baby, for you and me Ne…
The List All dressed down to catch a whiff of the buzz Smells…
The Mandate As far back as it goes, we watch the time…
The Other Side Ten tonnes may fall, Down from the fallen sky Onto the other…
The People Not looking for reason, not trying to understand Not trying…
The Police and the Private Get straight, wait here while I try to find the…
The Shade I'm following the sun That's setting in the West We're float…
The Twist We were too wasted to close the window Friends and family…
The Void All night, like a child I stayed up to prove I can…
The Wanderlust I've been sleepwalking through the railway station Wake me u…
Too Bad So Sad Take me out of this state I'm in Go somewhere I've…
Too Little Too Late You can burn your paper fingers in the ashtray Place your…
Torture Me Get the rope, tie me to the bedpost Because I can't…
Twilight Galaxy Did they tell you, you should grow up When you wanted…
Underline the Black Underline the black around my eyes In the dark with heavy…
Waves Saw the water, not the waves Caught your eye, forgot your…
Wet Blanket Falling for the creep the body leech here he comes Vicious…
What Feels Like Eternity Crying on the line, tower under vine Caution on repeat with…
White Gold Piss poor, riding high, sunbathing fireside We're here for t…
Who Would You Be For Me Coming on ever so strong Coming off ever so weak Coming off…
Youth Without Youth Hangman, we played rubber soul with a razor blade Behind the…
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