Metric's 'Synthetica' song clips, tracklist and cover unveiled

Metric's "Synthetica"

Credit: MMI/Mom + Pop

Metric's mysterious new album cover for "Synthetica" is met with an equally quixotic tracklist of song names like "The Void," "Artificial Nocturne" and "Speed the Collapse." But we're looking most forward to "Lost Kitten," natch.

The Canadian rock act has lifted the veil on their new album's cover art and tracklist, in addition to revealing what work in the studio looked and sounded like. Fans can preview some clips of songs and track samples (a module dubbed "Reflections of Synthetica") through the band's website, in addition to streaming a couple bits below.

As for the cover shot, it was composed by Toronto photographer/designer Justin Broadbent.

"I like looking into things that are looking into things," Broadbent said in a statement. "Like a pool reflecting the sky, or a television in a shop window.  For the 'Synthetica' cover I tried to create a beautiful landscape that doesn't sit comfortably with the viewer."

Metric's first single from "Synthetica," "Youth Without Youth," will drop on or around May 1 and will apparently boast a Gary Glitter beat. The album is out on June 12 through the band's own label in conjunction with Mom + Pop in America. The band has also announced several tour dates, including a weird one-off in Kansas City, their Lollapalooza stop and Osheaga in Montreal.

Read more on why Metric's next album may rewrite the rules of rock radio here.

Now, here is a Metric cover of a Tom Waits song, posted earlier this week:

Here is the tracklist for "Synthetica":

1. Artificial Nocturne
2. Youth Without Youth
3. Speed the Collapse
4. Breathing Underwater
5. Dreams So Real
6. Lost Kitten
7. The Void
8. Synthetica
9. Clone
10. The Wanderlust
11. Nothing But Time

Here are Metric's tour dates:

5/26 Georga, WA - Sasquatch Festival
5/27 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater
6/2 Kansas City, MO - Live Strong Sporting Park
6/16 Belleville, ON - Big Music Fest
6/26 Berlin, Germany - Postbahnhof
6/28 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter
6/30 Istanbul, Turkey - Mono Festival
7/2 London, UK - 02 Shepherds Bush Empire
7/3 Paris, France - Le Trianon
7/4 Amsterdam, Holland - Melweg
7/7 Manchester UK - HMV Ritz
7/8 Oxford, UK - 02 Academy
8/3-5 Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza Festival
8/3-5 Montreal, QC - Osheaga Festival

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

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After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.