(Paris) Metronomy’s seventh album is called Small World but does not lack a broad view: the luminous pop of the British is nourished by a new serenity, cultivated in the face of the trials of the pandemic.
Posted at 10:32
Do not be mistaken about the single scouted out, It’s good to be back. With its 1990s and hedonistic synths, the song will be welcomed in front of the stages by the public as a celebration of the resumption of concerts.
“But in fact I composed it thinking of the joy of being back home (laughs), I realized then that there would be this idea of returning from the tours”, explains to AFP Joseph Mount, leader and sound architect of Metronomy, during a videoconference interview.
The one everyone calls by his diminutive “Joe” has found the right balance between life on tour and the family circle (a French woman, two children aged 7 and 9).
But Small World, which comes out this Friday, doesn’t just sum up the universe of Metronomy’s handyman who writes the lyrics and composes the music in his recording studio. Melodies that we find in passing later sampled, as with the American rapper Danny Brown, remixed under the fingers, for example, of the London DJ Erol Alkan or covers, as by Clara Luciani in France.
This “Small World” is also filled with lessons learned during the confinements. “One of the good sides of the health crisis is realizing that you can be happy at home, that you don’t need to consume, buy stuff all the time”. In the piece LoveFactorywe hear “let’s buy a new car”, a very ridiculous quest when taking stock of a life as evoked by the rest of the lyrics.
“Not afraid of aging”
SCREENSHOT
Small World by Metronomy
The themes of Small World were induced by a planet placed in shutdown by COVID-19. “It’s the idea of this small world, we are told that there are billions of people on earth, but we realize with the pandemic that everyone is going through the same thing at the same time”, develops the singer and guitarist. “And it’s the same for climate change, everyone experiences it, whether it’s us, our loved ones and the rest of the world”.
The idea of the end — of the world, of existence — runs through the disc, which is not dark for all that, whether in form (we hear echoes of David Bowie, on LoveFactoryor The Cure, on hold me tonight) or in the background. There’s just this acceptance that everything has a beginning and an end and that you have to know how to capture the moment.
Like the cover photo. “It’s not my garden, it’s the communal garden where I grew up, today it’s wilder, no one takes care of it anymore, this photo is when he was on top and it was my mother who took it”, explains Joe.
But no nostalgia or fear of the future. “I’m turning 40 this year, but I’m not afraid of getting older, I see that I observe things better,” adds the affable and disheveled artist.
“I’m coming to a new cycle, I’m more comfortable talking about all subjects, whether in my texts and with my children. You have to know how to talk about everything with them, otherwise some things will become complex in their eyes,” he concludes.