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Led by multi-instrumentalist and producer
Joseph Mount,
Metronomy has grown from a scrappy, lo-fi side project into one of the more creative acts mixing rock and electronic music. Drawing on influences ranging from
Devo and
David Bowie to
N.E.R.D. and
Pavement,
Mount established
Metronomy as an equally catchy and unpredictable act with 2006's
Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe). The project's later albums, such as 2011's Mercury Prize-nominated
The English Riviera, were smoother and more sophisticated, but still incorporated unexpected elements that ranged from the Motown and blue-eyed soul homages of 2014's
Love Letters to the retro-futurism of 2019's
Metronomy Forever. With projects like 2021's hip-hop-inspired
Posse EP, Vol. 1 and the deceptively sunny pop of 2022's
Small World,
Mount continued to push
Metronomy's creative boundaries while keeping his witty melodies, songwriting, and production at the forefront.
Named after the musical term for the measurement of time by an instrument,
Mount started
Metronomy in 1999 as a side project to the other bands he played with, using an old computer that his father gave him to record songs.
Metronomy's first full-band lineup also included keyboardist/saxophonist
Oscar Cash and keyboardist/bassist
Gabriel Stebbing. Prior to
Metronomy,
Mount and
Stebbing played together in acts such as the Upsides, a pop group the pair described as "the original
Busted," and
the Customers, with whom they played in university. When his cousin
Cash joined
Metronomy, it became the trio's main project. The band earned buzz for their engaging live shows as well as official and unofficial remixes of tracks by
Gorillaz,
Architecture in Helsinki,
Sebastien Tellier,
Kate Nash,
U2, and
Britney Spears.
Metronomy self-released an EP early in 2002, and after a DJ gig in Brighton,
Mount connected with the founder of Holiphonic Records, which released
Metronomy's debut single, "You Could Easily Have Me," in late 2005. For June 2006's debut album
Pip Paine (Pay the £5000 You Owe),
Mount drew inspiration from artists ranging from
Aphex Twin and
Kraftwerk to
Frank Zappa and
Talking Heads.
Following a deal with Because Music,
Metronomy issued the single
Radio Ladio on the label's Need Now Future imprint in November 2007. The next September saw the release of their second album,
Nights Out. A set of songs revolving around disappointing nights on the town, the album included more contributions from
Cash and
Stebbing. Thanks to singles such as Heartbreaker and
My Heart Rate Rapid,
Nights Out introduced
Metronomy to a wider audience; the album was eventually certified double silver, having sold over 40,000 copies throughout Europe. The
Not Made for Love EP followed in 2009, the same year that
Stebbing left
Metronomy to focus on his other project,
Your Twenties. Bassist Gbenga Adelekan and former
Lightspeed Champion drummer Anna Prior joined the fold for April 2011's
The English Riviera, which boasted a sleeker sound than the band's previous work. Recorded in London and Paris, the album was a commercial and critical success, reaching number 28 on the U.K. charts, selling more than 60,000 copies, and earning them a Mercury Prize nomination.
Mount and crew went in a very different direction for
Metronomy's fourth album, March 2014's
Love Letters. Taking inspiration from acts such as
the Supremes,
the Zombies, and
Sly & the Family Stone, the band recorded at Toe Rag, an all-analog London studio frequented by indie rock bands such as
the White Stripes and
the Cribs. The singles "I'm Aquarius" and "Love Letters" -- which boasted a video directed by Michel Gondry -- signaled the album's mix of vintage warmth and cutting-edge pop ahead of its March 2014 release. The set peaked at number seven on the U.K. albums chart, their highest position to date. For
Metronomy's next album,
Mount changed course again, booking a studio just outside Paris and writing and recording a set of songs by himself within two weeks. The funky
Summer 08, which reflected on the exuberance of the
Nights Out era and featured collaborations with
Mix Master Mike,
Erol Alkan, and
Robyn, arrived in July 2016.
Mount then worked with
Robyn on her acclaimed 2018 album
Honey, co-writing and producing several of its songs.
Following
Mount's move from Paris to the English countryside,
Metronomy returned in September 2019 with
Metronomy Forever. Featuring production assists by
Mr. Oizo and
Pierre Rousseau, the album spanned new wave-inspired pop songs to amorphous synth experiments and reached number 15 on the U.K. Albums Chart. Two years later,
Metronomy released the
Posse EP, Vol. 1, a project in the vein of
Handsome Boy Modeling School that found
Mount collaborating with artists including
Biig Piig,
Pinty,
Sorry, and Brian Nasty.
Mount and company returned in February 2022 with
Small World, a concise, optimistic set of songs written and recorded during the COVID-19 global pandemic. ~ Heather Phares