Metric, 'Synthetica': New Album Inspired by Gary Glitter Beat and Radical Architecture

Toronto band Metric say they were inspired by troubled glam rocker Gary Glitter on forthcoming single "Youth Without Youth."

"I've always wanted to do a song with the Gary Glitter beat," said Metric guitarist James Shaw.

The single, scheduled for a May 1 release, will be the first track from Synthetica, Metric's long-awaited fifth studio album. The 11-song album will be self-released June 12 worldwide through the band's own label Metric Music International and a number of partners including Mom + Pop Music in the U.S., Universal Music in Canada and Arts & Crafts in Mexico.

Synthetica will feature artwork from Toronto-based photographer and designer Justin Broadbent. According to Metric lead singer Emily Haines, Broadbent perfectly channeled the weird architecture that inspired the band while making the new album.

"We wanted the artwork for Synthetica to be thought provoking and a little disorienting, an optical illusion which asks you to stop for a moment and consider what you are looking at," says Haines. "We were very influenced by images from the radical architecture movement of the 1960s, and Justin's representation of the natural world seen through a physically impossible window -- or is it a stage? -- struck us immediately as the right cover for this album."

A number of Broadbent's images are currently on display at Metric's website.

Metric will be doing a lot of jetsetting in the coming months considering Synthetica's worldwide release. The band announced 14 tour dates spanning from May to August, ranging across locations as far flung as Bend, Oregon and Istanbul, Turkey and including appearances at Lollapalooza, Osheaga, and Sasquatch festivals, a date opening for Beck and a stop in Kansas City, Missouri at Live Strong Sporting Park for the Buzz Beach Ball.