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Jul 17, 2018 By Christopher Roberts Metric

Metric returned last week with a new single, “Dark Saturday.” Now they have shared a video for the song and announced that their new album is due out September 21 via MMI/Crystal Math Music. The album doesn’t have a title yet and the tracklist and cover art are also still forthcoming. Justin Broadbent directed the “Dark Saturday” video, which was shot on an iPhone X and combines four different black & white vertical images, each following a different band member. Watch it below. Metric are currently on tour opening for The Smashing Pumpkins and those dates are below too.

Frontwoman Emily Haines had this to say about the song in a press release: “This is our seventh album as a band and we wanted the first song people heard from it to be ‘Dark Saturday’ as a sonic heads up that our guitars are back in force. Lyrically, the song depicts a dystopian nightlife scene of gaudy wealth where oblivious party girls say nauseating things like, ‘I’m so rich everything’s free.’”

As Haines indicates, “Dark Saturday” harkens to the band’s earlier, more guitar-based punky/New Wave sound, rather than the more electro-rock direction they’ve taken on their last few albums.

Metric haven’t released a new album in almost three years, since 2015’s Pagans in Vegas. Guitarist Jimmy Shaw did not co-produce the new album, despite doing so with the band’s last three albums. Instead, Justin Meldal-Johnsen (M83, Beck) produced the album, which was recorded at Metric’s own Giant Studio in Toronto and mixed by Tony Hoffer (Phoenix, Depeche Mode).

In the press release Shaw had this to say about working with Meldal-Johnsen: “Justin was just what we needed in a producer for this album. He really saw every band member eye to eye and was able to capture what we each do best. It was something I realized I couldn’t do at this stage, having been in the band for so long. We were finally able to focus on just playing again, as we did at the start. Making this album brought us together in a way we hadn’t been for quite some time and I think you can hear it in the music.”

Last year frontwoman Emily Haines released a new solo album, Choir of the Mind, under the name Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton. She also appeared on Hug of Thunder, Broken Social Scene‘s excellent 2017 album.

Read our 2017 The End interview with Emily Haines about endings and death.

Metric Tour Dates (with The Smashing Pumpkins):

07/17 Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
07/18 Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
07/20 Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
07/21 Louisville, KY @ KFC Yum! Center
07/22 Atlanta, GA @ Infinite Energy Arena
07/24 Miami, FL @ AmericanAirlines Arena
07/25 Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
07/27 Baltimore, MD @ Royal Farms Arena
07/28 Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
07/29 Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
07/31 Boston, MA @ TD Garden
08/01 New York City, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/02 Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
08/04 Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
08/05 Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
08/07 Montreal @ Centre Bell
08/11 Columbus, OH @ Schottenstein Center
08/13 Chicago, IL @ United Center
08/14 Chicago, IL @ United Center
08/16 Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
08/17 Indianapolis, IN @ Bankers Life Fieldhouse
08/19 St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
08/20 Omaha, NE @ CenturyLink Center
08/21 Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford Premier Center
08/24 Seattle, WA @ KeyArena
08/25 Portland, OR @ Moda Center
08/27 Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
08/28 Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
08/30 Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
09/01 San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena
09/02 Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena
09/04 Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Smart Home Arena
09/05 Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
09/07 Boise, ID @ Ford Idaho Center

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