Somewhere in the late nineties, briton Joseph Mount - a curly-haired young man with freckles - sits down at his father's old computer with 6 megabytes of RAM to start making his toy (this is just at first) indie music. Prior to that, he played in various rock and roll bands at school, like many other guys his age.
"Cause we're always in small circles"
He also taught drums in the area - he practiced. It was with the drum kit that his first experiments with melodies and hooks began. And only after a few years the bedroom project grew to a real group with all that it implies.
Frontman
Drummer
Guitarist and keyboardist
Joseph Mount
Anna Prior
Oscar Cash
Today Metronomy is four people who complement each other perfectly. It seems that this is how The Beatles of today might look - with different representations, messages and instruments.
Gbenga Adelekan
Bassist
1
The band's debut album was "Pip Paine (Pay the £ 5000 You Owe)" released in 2006, which greeted listeners with dashing and booming electronics. According to Mount, these were "the sounds of a person living in a musically redundant place, trying to create exciting music." The album was definitely not a hit, but many people talked about it, including even skeptical critics. A new star seemed to be shining in the British indie skyline.
2
But its sequel, the concept album "Nights Out", released in 2008, received a fraction of the acclaim for the heavier. The style of the album was entirely devoted to an interesting pastime that is usually associated with a nightlife. This is truly the soundtrack to noisy weekends and crazy raves. The album did not pass by critics' radar: NME magazine included the disc in the shortlist of the best albums of 2008.
3
And here it is, the moment of glory: in 2011 the album "The English Rivera" was released with the participation of a new bassist and drummer, and the sparkling "The Bay" became a real banger.
People clearly missed the summer that Metronomy handed out in the video: sandy beaches, sea, cliffs, resort views.
And although the atmosphere of a tourist town, where you can forget about the bustle of the metropolis, did not help the group to shake up the charts, but "The English Riviera" still received a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Prize - so much the track liked both critics and laymen.
4
The conceptual LP "Love Letters" was released in 2014. In the first week, he was able to take the 7th place in the ranking of album sales in the UK.
This disc became a favorite of Joseph Mount, as he later said. The album is obviously more personal than its predecessors. In it, the members of the group concentrated on pop traditions that were formed back in the 60s: emphasized harmony, bright style, coherence in the game. Gradually, Metronomy developed into an electro-rock band with an intelligent and even psychedelic sound.
Critics agreed that "Love Letters" was a little dull and even depressing on the audition, but Mount disagreed, stressing that the release contains a lot of joy and atmosphere of a busy airport in the summer, when the sun is hot and the heat is a little dizzy. as if you drank champagne with bubbles.
Yes, it definitely has a weird '60s feel to it - like the musical Hair. People scattered and talked about space. It's pretty charming, really.
Joseph Mount
Even the cover of the album with letters resembling porous chocolate sends listeners back to the hippie era, to the beginning of the sexual revolution and the Woodstock festival, where everyone felt like a full-fledged inhabitant of their own island of freedom. Freedom, which is always too little.
5
"Summer 08" is a 2016 album with a self-explanatory title that refers to the year Joseph Mount had an unforgettable vacation. The first swallow from the album was the song "Old Skool", in which Mount sings about parties in the West End with friends.
This is the first album that I recorded in the status of a person who almost never appears in public: I now have two children, I began to hang out less, go to parties. I also thought about how long I have been at Metronomy, how my life has changed - changed significantly - since we started. I decided to record a relaxed album, not the same as the previous ones. I did it for my own pleasure.
Joseph Mount
6
The sixth studio album "Metronomy Forever" was released in September 2019. It's a pretty long and nostalgic release. One of its features is the amazing variety of instruments. "What is love? I hate what she did to me" -Mount asks in the song "Insecurity" to the echoing beep of a synthesizer.
Now basically all music is ambient music. I think she gives musicians a load of freedom.
Joseph Mount
Interestingly, one of the songs is about Salted Caramel Ice Cream. Rather, the girl who looks so much like him. Theatrical breaths from Joe are perhaps just a cherry on this ice cream of interesting musical finds. So the group once again showed the listeners their skill to reinvent what had already been invented and the ability to produce lively pop hits, despite its twenty-year history. And this skill, it seems, can be envied.
