Before my Jenny Lewis infatuation, Emily Haines reigned supreme on my list of indie rock goddesses.She still ranks pretty high in my book. And rightfully so.
Haines' band Metric has been around for over a decade, gracing airwaves with her recognizable, and sometimes imitated (see: Land of Talk), voice. It only makes sense that a Canadian with such talent would be part of the well-know musical collective that is Broken Social Scene.
I went through a stint freshman year where I played Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003) on repeat, daily. If you have yet to listen to Metric, give this album a try; a similar repetitive reaction will occur for the following four weeks. Pay special attention to "Succexy," "Combat Baby" and "Wet Blanket."
Yofred introduced me to one of Haines' solo albums, which she releases under the name Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton, and once again my craving for more of her voice surfaced. I did not listen to Knives Don't Have Your Back in quite the same obsessive way I did with her Metric work. The tracks ran at a slow tempo than anything I had heard from her before, but her voice was still there, even a little more haunting (i.e. "Our Hell"). In the end, I prefer Metric Haines.
New material off of Metric's soon-to-be released Fantasties album, due out next month, has been leaking off music blogs since the turn of the new year. And I am a bit disappointed.
I do not want to slam the new album just yet, seeing how I have yet to get it and give it a good long listen, but I have been upset by the things I have heard; Haines does not seem to ooze that slightly-bad-ass edge I thought set her apart, and a large role in why I love her so.
[download Fantasies here]
This morning I saw the official video for "Gimme Sympathy." It does not do anything for me. It sure does not ignite the impulses to dance that "Dead Disco" did three years ago, and continues to do.
You be the judge.
New Metric
"Gimme Sympathy," off of newest album Fantasties
"Gimme Sympathy," off of newest album Fantasties
Old Metric
"Dead Disco," off Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
"Dead Disco," off Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
Which style do you prefer? Am I totally off the mark? Comment.
i love the new metric album, and i love when bands change their "style" or whatever you want to call it. if bands didn't experiment and write new, different things, we would be living in a pretty boring world. animal collective would be a shitty band. kanye would've never made 808's and heartbreak (which i completely love).
ReplyDeletemetric is experimenting, and i like that. but i also don't think its that big of a departure from previous metric albums. oh... and emily haines is a babe!