“Formentera” is an album that fans who appreciated the last three albums will come to enjoy. But fans of Metric who appreciate their often changing musical style, will love “Formentera”. I absolutely enjoyed this album and it continues to be on my playlist months after release. Recommended!
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BAND: Metric
ALBUM: Formentera
DURATION 9 songs (48 Minutes)
RELEASE DATE: July 8, 2022
1 Doomscroller
2 All Comes Crashing
3 What Feels Like Eternity
4 Formentera
5 Enemies of the Ocean
6 I Will Never Settle
7 False Dichotomy
8 Oh Please
9 Paths in the Sky
It doesn’t seem that it was long ago when I first discovered Metric.
The Canadian rock band which consists of Emily Haines (lead vocalist, synth, guitar, tamourine, harmonica, piano), James Shaw (guitar, synth, theremin, background vocals), Joshua Winstead (bass, synth, background vocals) and Joules Scott-Key (Drums, percussion) was formed in 1998.
Originally going by the name of “Mainstream” and were originally a duo consisting of Haines and Shaw, the Toronto, Ontario rock band, Metric is one of the favorite bands that you will never peg down of what kind of music they will release.
In a way, I absolutely love this because this band is always full of surprises and I never know what to expect. Granted, there are some fans who may get upset by the inconsistency of the band’s music. In fact, because of their musical differences throughout the years, if there was one band that has done the same thing with great efficacy is Radiohead.
And there are many others, bands who change their style, especially from the ’70s to the ’80s when some bands went from post-punk to New Romantic or New Wave. And even since the ’90s with some bands like Blur or even Blonde Redhead having switched things up.
Granted, Metric is one of those bands where you get a little bit of something different with each album and you can see the gradual changes with the band’s music.
As a long time listener, since their album “Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?”, I have seen the band go from more rock to see their music begin to incorporate more synth with “Synthetica” to their ode to the ’80s Depeche Mode style of album “Pagans in Vegas” which there were fans who didn’t like this change of direction, but those who saw the band evolving.
Personally, I embraced it and enjoyed the album and as a person who listened to Depeche Mode go from synth pop to incorporating instruments, to The Cure who went from dark goth to upbeat music, to bands like Blonde Redhead where it can go to shoegaze to rock to almost French pop and to Britpop band Blur who has changed their music up (and of course, lead vocalist Damon Albarn taking it to the next level with the Gorillaz), or rock bands such as Garbage and of course, Radiohead.
But we have seen other bands try to switch things up, The Beatles had done it especially with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (you can go through the tracks and listen to each track and see the difference between “When I’m Sixty-Four” to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” or “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”) or even a band like Joy Division, and hearing how they evolved from “Warsaw” to their hit “Love Will Tear Us Apart”.
I do understand with music fans liking the earlier rock sound vs. the more electronic rock sound or vice versa. You still have people to this day who love the “Pablo Honey” and the “The Bends” years of Radiohead who can’t understand why “Kid A” would rank in “Rolling Stone” magazine’s list at No. 20 in their “500 Greatest Hits of All Time” when the group became more electronic?
And there are those who love the band’s music, no matter how different it may sound, because they appreciate their creativity and artistic music style.
You will see the fans discuss this in the various Metric forums. Everyone has their own opinion of which album or song is the best and you can see which style that people enjoy, the more rock side or the more electronic sound side of the band and those who appreciate Metric’s music no matter the musical changes.
But this electronic sound was evident in “Synthetica” but their album “Pagans in Vegas” set the tone of going electronic with the ’80s synth pop, their 2018 album “Art of Doubt” perfected it more modern without the ’80s undertones and here we are in 2022, four years later with their eighth studio album “Formentera”.
While I’m not sure if the title of the album was named after the smallest of Spain’s Balearic island known for its dreamy beaches. But I do know this…after listening to this album multiple times, I absolutely love it!
The lead track is the 10:29 second song titled “Doomscroller” which was the second single off the album.
I absolutely love how this song shifts to different styles, especially from the beginning to the synth driven frenetic segments, then going to a more dreamy shift of musical style and then the song building up with an injection of synth, and then back to a piano-driven ballad and shifting to a rock track.
This song is literally what I love about Metric and this song alone describes the band’s musical changes through the years but bringing it all together. Letting listeners know that no matter how the music may change, they are still Metric and I applaud the band for creating such a magnificent song.
The second track is the band’s first single from the album, “All Comes Crashing” is a pop song with synth and percussion and will shift to melodic guitars that shifts in style from ’90s style reminding me of The Cure, to a more punchy guitars. A very good song overall!
The third track “What Feels Like Eternity” (and third single from the album) has a cool bass intro and has the ’90s style of rock sound. I absolutely love the guitars for this song! And that extends to the four track, the title track “Formentera” and of course, while bass and guitars work well in showcasing Emily Haine’s vocals.
The fifth track “Enemies of the Ocean” is a beautiful song and love the synth to the more bass, dreamy soundscene. Love it!
There are often tracks where Emily Haine’s vocals extremely shine and the sixth track “I Will Never Settle” is one of those songs. With a range of mezzo-soprano and a dreamy vocal track as a whole… Another awesome track on the album!
The seventh track “False Dichotomy” is like an ode to the ’80s but more with a modern feel, and in some ways, like an extension of a song from the last two albums. I love the track!
The eight track is “Oh Please” is a song that you peg down for its guitars and percussion, but then you start to hear the incorporation of the synth but a song that I absolutely enjoy for its catchiness and a solid song overall!
The album ends with the ninth track “Paths in the Sky” and I have to say that at first, it reminded me of U2’s Adam Clayton bass-style of song. But overall, I like the bass for the song and the guitars and percussion in harmony.
For the most part, I absolutely loved “Formentera”. There are no weak tracks on this album, unless you are a Metric fan who yearns for the musical years of “Fantasies”, “Live It Out” or “Black Sheep” style of music.
The band never ceases to amaze me because they can easily shift their musical style easily, may they want to pursue more electronic or more rock, they can easily do so. In a way, I applaud the band for being able to experiment and become creative musically and also to vocalist Emily Haines showcasing her changing vocal style, she still sounds amazing.
If I had to be critical, it’s the fact that there are only nine tracks on this album. Granted, “Doomscroller” is like three or four songs in one, but would have loved for a deluxe edition of the album. May it be alternate takes, demos or acoustic versions, would have loved to hear more songs considering it was a long four year wait, I was hoping for more tracks!
Overall, “Formentera” is an album that fans who appreciated the last three albums will come to enjoy. But fans of Metric who appreciate their often changing musical style, will love “Formentera”. I absolutely enjoyed this album and it continues to be on my playlist months after release. Recommended!
