Metric – Formentera (Part 1/2)

“Take something for the pain
Not something to conceal it
More like a magnification mirror, full-size
Inner echo reflecting solace revived
Whatever you do, either way we’re gonna love you
Never mattered, either way we’re gonna love you
Whatever you do, either way we’re gonna love you
Never mattered, how many or how much more you’ve been through.”

-From the song, Doomscroller (2022)

During lockdown The Canadian alt-rockers could not visit the real Formentera – the smallest of Spain’s Balearic islands in the Mediterranean Sea. So they did the next best thing – go there in their imagination. That’s how guitarist, James Shaw describes the birth of the title track of the bands 8th studio album. It’s the mind’s island (>>Eye-Land<<); a psychedelic seaside soiree.

Metric is a great indie rock success story. Formed in 1998 they spent their early years wiggling out of the corporate straight jacket before taking control in 2009 by releasing their hallmark album, Fantasies under their own label (Metric Music International). They gained more traction a year later when their (now) most-popular bopper, “Black Sheep” was featured in Edgar Wright’s movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. They have been masters of their fate ever since. And that is a very good thing for us.

Freedom and autonomy are the best of things when it comes to art. Metric is a case study for why that is. Emily Haines has one of the most beautiful minds on the planet. And because she is free, she can share it with us direct, unfiltered. “Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure.”

Formentera is an invitation to Metric’s mental palace, where rock music enthusiasts can step in and figure out what it means to be a champion of higher virtue in a society that has lost touch with its soul. For these true doomscrollers, it’s gotta feel like a really tough job.

I’ll break down the tracks in Part 2. Stay tuned🏝💎💛

E.F.