Six LPs into an inspiring career that's seen them collaborate with legends like Lou Reed, perform with the Rolling Stones, entertain the Queen of England, become the first band in history to score their first Top 20 commercial radio hit in the U.S. without the backing of an outside label, win a plethora of awards including Junos for Album of the Year and Artist of the Year, pen the theme song for Twilight: Eclipse with Howard Shore (for which the music garnered nominations for both an Oscar and a Grammy), Metric have their creative process on lock, with Pagans in Vegas no exception.

In an effort to translate the gratifying experience of discovering an artist you love, Metric packed their new album with reverent references to artists who’ve inspired them, from Depeche Mode, New Order, The Cure and Underworld all the way back to Kraftwerk, stitching together acoustic and synthetic foundations with a crisp, unique now-ness that captures the quandaries of life in an age where bad news is unavoidable and great art is a life-saver.

Guitarist-producer Jimmy Shaw sees the album's title as an apt meditation on "people with a conscience, for better or worse, playing around in the arena of unconscionable behavior" and notes how the album skillfully blurs the lines between genres. "We tried to be as bold as possible," he says. Whilst the irrepressible first single “The Shade” builds up to a synth jam, “Lie Lie Lie” takes a more serious tone exploring frustration towards female representation, with "Fortunes" exploding into a euphoric chorus in which frontwoman Emily Haines sings of a world that's magical, sinister and inescapable.

Life is beautiful. The world is cruel. Music still matters. Metric have wrestled with these truths for 15 years, but their new album, Pagans in Vegas, takes them on in an entirely new way.