Toronto-based JOVM mainstays METZ‘s fifth studio album Up On Gravity Hill is slated for a Friday release on Dine Alone Records in Canada and on Sub Pop for the rest of the world. The album, which is the JOVM mainstays’ first album in four years was engineered by Seth Manchester and features guest appearances from Black Mountain‘s Amber Webber and string arrangements by composer Owen Pallett.
Long known for blowing out eardrums with explosively loud songs of joyous rage, the Canadian JOVM mainstays — Alex Edkins (vocals, guitar), Chris Slorach (bass) and Hayden Menzies (drums) — have, over the course of their past couple of albums have begun exploring ways of turning abrasiveness into atmospherics. The evolution of their sound is not only a reflection of the band’s maturity as humans and as musicians, but also a changed world that demands much more nuance and compassion to comprehend and survive. Up On Gravity Hill reportedly finds the band continuing to bend the raw power of rock music to its most delicate, intricate ends. The album’s material may arguably be their deepest, detailed and unyieldingly personal batch of songs — and their most beautiful to date.
In the lead up to the album’s release later this week, I’ve written about three of its singles. The band specifically spotlighted the evolution of their sound and approach through the release of its first two contrasting singles:
“99,” a stomping and noisy motorik chug of a song built around their long-held penchant for shout along worthy, mosh pit friendly hooks choruses that sounds subtly informed by Edkins’ work with Noble Rot. “Entwined (Street Light Buzz),” a woozy and swooning song that sees the trio retaining their penchant for power chord-driven, enormous, shout along friendly hooks and choruses with a gorgeous and meditative shoegazer-like bridge.
“These two songs couldn’t be more stylistically and thematically dissimilar,” METZ’s Alex Edkins says. “‘Entwined (Street Light Buzz)’ is a song about the deep connection humans can foster with one another and how we carry people with us forever, even after death. ‘99’ is about the scourge of corporate greed and bottom-line thinking that runs rampant in modern society. Anything for a buck is the message being sent to younger generations.”
“Light Your Way Home,” a slow-burning shoegazer-like ballad built around the band’s long-held penchant for feedback-driven power chords, thunderous drums, enormous raise-your-beer-in-the-air-and-shout-along worthy anthemic choruses serving as a dramatic and stormy vehicle for Edkins’ achingly yearning delivery and backing vocals from Black Mountain‘s and Lighting Dust’s Amber Webber. “Light Your Way Home” finds the Toronto-based outfit at their most forcefully earnest with hearts worn proudly on their sleeves, expressing the understandably deep longing for your loved ones — presumably while living the rock n’ roll live on the road. Sonically, the track is a subtle departure from their established sound that sees the band proverbially stretching themselves upward.
“’Light Your Way Home’ is definitely one of our favorites from Up On Gravity Hill. I was listening to lots of Jesu and Low (as I do most winters) when writing this one,” the band’s Alex Edkins says in press notes. “Lyrically, it’s about missing your loved ones to the point of losing your grip on reality. We distorted and added a mechanical slap back to the drums to create a wild and huge sound. I love how big we got the production on this one. It’s like nothing we’ve ever made before, sonically or lyrically. Amber Webber (Black Mountain, Lightning Dust) was so great to work with, and her voice just takes this song to another stratosphere. I think the video by Colin Medley perfectly captures the vibe and intent of the song.”
Up On Gravity Hill’s fourth and latest single, “Superior Mirage” sees the acclaimed Canadian JOVM mainstays pushing their sound into a bold new direction. Anchored around a propulsive boom bap-like beat, reverb soaked bursts of angular guitar and glistening synth oscillations, “Superior Mirage” is a woozy track that sees the band seamlessly blending post-punk, shoegazer textures with their long-held penchant for enormous, rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses. The result is a song that’s still mosh pit friendly yet but arguably one of the more melodic and dreamier songs of their catalog.
“It’s definitely new territory for us, and I really love the sounds we were able to achieve. We blended a Linn Drum with some homemade samples and made this ad-hoc junkyard drum sound that propels the song along,” METZ’s Alex Edkins says of the new single. “We really tried to make the backbeat the defining trait of the song. The lift on the chorus is pretty huge, too. We wanted the wall of guitars to knock you sideways.”
Directed by John Andrews, the animated video for “Superior Mirage” follows two devils speeding through the desert. After stopping to party, they come across a portal to another dimension, where they encounter the members of METZ ripping hard. Evil hasn’t been this childlike or this fun in a while, y’all!
The Toronto-based JOVM mainstays will be embarking on a lengthy headlining international tour to support Up On Gravity Hill. North American dates will run from April 17, 2024 to May 17, 2024 and includes an April 19, 2024 stop at Bowery Ballroom. UK and EU dates will run from November 3, 2024 to November 29, 2024. The band also has a series of UK and EU festival dates in August, including Green Man Festival in the UK, La Route Du Rock and Cabaret Vert Festival in France, and the Canela Party in Spain. All tour dates can be seen below.
Tour Dates
North America
Wed. Apr. 17 – Boston, MA – Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre $
Fri. Apr. 19 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom $
Sat. Apr. 20 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts $ *
Sun. Apr. 21 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar $
Tue. Apr. 23 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl $
Thu. Apr. 24 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn $
Fri. Apr. 25 – Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge $
Sat. Apr. 26 – Austin, TX – The Parish (Austin Psych Fest) $
Sun. Apr. 27 – Dallas, TX – Sons of Hermann Hall $
Mon. Apr. 29 – Sante Fe, NM – Meow Wolf $
Tues. Apr. 30 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar $
Wed. – May 01 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah $
Tue. May 02 – Los Angeles, CA – 1720 $
Wed. May 03 – San Jose, CA – The Ritz $
Thu. May 04 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel $
Mon. May 06 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom $
Tue. May 07 – Seattle, WA – Neumos $
Fri. May 10 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club $
Sat. May 11 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge $
Thu. May 16 -Montreal, QE – Theatre Fairmount $
Sat. May 17 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall $
$ w/ Gouge Away
* w/ Rid of Me
UK/EU
Thu. Aug. 15 – Crickhowell, UK – Green Man Festival
Fri. Aug. 16 – St Malo, FR La Route Du Rock
Sat. Aug. 17 – Charleville-Mezières, FR – Cabaret Vert Festival
Fri. Aug. 23 – Malaga, ES – Canela Party
Sat. Nov. 02 – Rennes, FR – L’Antipode
Sun. Nov. 03 – La Rochelle, FR – La Sirène
Mon. Nov. 04 – Paris, FR – La Maroquinerie
Tue. Nov. 05 – Clermont-Ferrand, FR – La Coopérative de Mai
Wed. Nov. 06 – Lyon, FR – Le Transbordeur
Thu. Nov. 07 – Zurich, CH – Bogen F
Sat. Nov. 09 – Prague, CZ – Futurum
Sun. Nov. 10 – Budapest, HU – Turbina
Tue. Nov. 12 – Krakow, PL – Klub Zascianek
Wed. Nov. 13 – Warsaw, PL – Klub Hydrozagadka
Sat. Nov. 16 – Berlin, DE – Hole44
Mon. Nov. 18 – Copenhagen, DK – Loppen
Tue. Nov. 19 – Hamburg, DE – Hafenklang
Wed. Nov. 20 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
Thu. Nov. 21 – Groningen, NL – Vera
Fri. Nov. 22- Antwerp, BE – Trix
Sat. Nov. 23 – Lille, FR – L’Aéronef
Mon. Nov. 25 – Birmingham, UK – Hare & Hounds
Tue. Nov. 26 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
Wed. Nov. 27 – Birkenhead, UK – Future Yard
Thu. Nov. 28 – Bristol, UK – Strange Brew
Fri. Nov. 29 – London, UK – Village Underground
