With their latest album, Fantasies, Canadian rock band Metric doesn’t really break any new ground, at least as far as their sound goes. Instead, the band does exactly what they’ve always done: craft some excellent rock music. There are plenty of lyrical and melodical hooks on Fantasies and is carried by the lyrics and harmonies of lead singer Emily Haines.

What Fantasies is, though, is Metric’s most consistent and strongest album. It’s a fine collection of synth and guitar-driven rock songs, with plenty that could be standout singles. “Help, I’m Alive” and “Gimme Sympathy” are my favorites at the moment but “Stadium Love” is the type of catchy song that will get entire crowd to hum along to the “oooh oooh oooh”s.

This show will be a homecoming of sorts as Fantasies was recorded just outside of Seattle at Bear Creek Studios in Woodinville. Haines explained to me it was because “It’s a beautiful studio in the woods, and being far from home was the whole point.”

Watch Metric perform “Help, I’m Alive” on “Letterman” in July below:

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQm1zs8EjAY]

{Metric plays Bumbershoot on the Broad Street Stage at 9:30pm on Monday, September 7}