Review Rock music

Metronomy

Posse EP Vol.2

Ninja Tune • 2024

When talking about Metronomy as a band, you might encounter the »Uhm, actually« types in the comments section, insisting that Joseph Mount is essentially a one-man operation and the band should be seen as a sidekick. With the new EP series »Posse«, the Brit finally breaks up this concept a bit and allows for collaboration where there hasn’t been any before. He even goes one step further. He provides the music, beats and production work, while others take the spotlight. His voice is nowhere to be heard. Mount thus returns to the instrumental beginnings of Metronomy, when he used to glue together collage-like lo-fi electro sounds that seemed to come out of music boxes from 90s video games.

But he doesn’t stop there. With dusty drum machines (»Nice Town«), echoing folk guitars (»With Balance«) and electro-funk beats learned from Flying Lotus (»Contact High«), he’s not just dragging old indie die-hards onto the dancefloor. The vocals of Pan Amsterdam, Naima Bock and Nourished By Time also help to bring the tracks into the current decade. It’s funny that the best Metronomy of the last ten years isn’t even a real Metronomy.