Mediaboss Marketing

Anticipated is a word that gets bandied about far too much in the music press: a word that is the default choice for any band returning to action after a year or more out of the limelight. But while some may not totally be deserving of the word, with Metronomyits hard to argue that it doesnt fit.

Three years after their critically praised third album The English Riviera, they are on the verge of once again staking a claim for becoming everybodys new favourite band with a fresh collection of lo-fi but heartfelt pop album four, Love Letters, is out in March.

The bands first show since an appearance at a German festival in September 2012 is an intimate affair in front of an audience consisting of friends, family and fans. Those in attendance witness a series of sometimes kitsch, 80s-inspired pop featuring a sprinkling of its makers early spirit.

The bands first incarnation saw members sport black t-shirts with flashing white lights attached, pulling off synchronised dance moves soundtracked by three-minute bursts of drum-machine outsider pop. But with each passing album the Joseph Mount-fronted outfit has taken several steps forward, and is now a finely tuned pop machine.

Tonights show is another sign that Metronomy is not a band willing to remain still. Its an educational 80-minute lesson in where the band is at right now.

Mount humbly apologises for the band being out of practice and also the amount of new material, stressing that this return to playing live after 16 months is an opportunity to try out new things. But while the set is heavily tailored towards road-testing the material from Love Letters, the show isnt all about airing previously unheard songs.

Songs such as Radio Ladio and the dark, twisted basslines of Holiday and She Wants gently snuggle up against material that makes up the bands forthcoming LP, without ever sounding out of place. Receiving live debuts are a host of tracks, including Boy Racers, Call Me, The Most Immaculate Haircut and recent single Im Aquarius.

Metronomy appreciate what effect their past has had on their present, so the older numbers are welcomed. The contrast between The English Riviera material and that of Love Letters is indicative, too, of the progression this band could take in its future.

A pop band designed to please: this is what Metronomy have become, through a sequence of neatly refined long-play releases. And long may that status continue.

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Excerpt from:
Metronomy - Live At The Old Market, Brighton