Metric has taken over the city these past days.

The band is hunkering down in the Royal Theatre to perfect all the production for their Canadian tour that kicks off in Victoria on August 11 and 12.

Photo credit: Justin Broadbent

Emily Haines tells me she’s not too nervous. After all, the band’s been at it for over two decades and eight albums. She's all about going with the flow.

“It’s about grasping the very limited scope of your control,” she says.  “And trying to make peace with the fact that if something doesn’t work it’s completely out of my control.” 

That sentiment of letting go runs through their latest album, Formentera — a post-pandemic journey through the anxiety of a two-year isolation into the hopeful present of feeling normal again.

For an electro-dance-pop band, Metric is both intellectual and risky. Take the opening track, Doomscroller, which clocks in at over 10-minutes—a pretty unconventional way to start a record.

“We gotta be bold. It’s Metric, c’mon,” she laughs.

Photo credit: Justin Broadbent

The 10-minute opus begins with an unnerving, doom-like feel, and ends in a quiet piano ballad —designed to make the listener feel like there’s a way out to the darkness of the pandemic.

“We’re always grappling with this sense of doom, Says Emily. “But then trying to take every minute from life to enjoy what we have and not to miss it as it goes by.”

“That’s the note that we leave things on the record.”

Ultimately, for Emily Haines, hope wins out.

“On this record it was about what songs are going to come through for people, and help them transcend some of the things that hold you back.”

“When it comes to the music, we have one job. And we found how to do it and how to be useful to people when they need us.”

The Doomscroller Tour takes place at The Royal Theatre August 11 and 12. For tickets click here.