Metric

After spending time apart focusing on other projects (Broken Social Scene, Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton), the Canadian indie rockers unite for their first album in nearly four years. Fantasies is fueled more by the disillusionment of fantasies realized rather than the fantasies themselves, with synths taking the brunt of the frustration. Underpinning but never overwhelming James Shaw's post-punk riffs and Emily Haines' coos, the shuddering electro nuances help push the tunes into dancefloor territory, with "Help I'm Alive" and "Gimme Sympathy" leading the pack.

This Canadian-American hipster quartet's first record in four years has an electrophile
slickness, not to mention a set of catchy songs. Amid manicured synth-rock grooves, singer
and indie-boy crush object Emily Haines delivers big refrains and spiky hooks, cooing
about love on "Sick Muse" and going dark on "Help I'm Alive," a throbbing, Garbage-esque
single that's bound to be played in any number of dingy indie-rock bars. Haines'... More >