Metronomy Looks Forward to a Long Break After Wrapping Up Tour in Miami Beach

"Every time we've come to Miami, it always seems to be quite an eventful experience. Last time I was there was when I lost a passport, and I had to go to a show late," says Metronomy frontman and founder Joseph Mount, reflecting on the group's last performance in South Florida during the House of Creatives music festival in Virginia Key Beach Park in 2017.

Famous for breakout tracks "The Look" and "The Bay," the quintet's only other local performances were during Ultra Music Festival in 2012 and III Points in 2014. But when the British group — consisting of Mount (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Oscar Cash (keyboards, saxophone, vocals), Gbenga Adelekan (bass, vocals), Anna Prior (drums, vocals), and Michael Lovett (keyboards, guitar) — stop at the Miami Beach Bandshell on Sunday, November 19, the band will be headlining its very own show. It's also the last stop on the band's current tour, with the members looking forward to taking a long break from life on the road after Sunday's show.

Mount, who has been producing and writing music since founding Metronomy in 1999 in Devon, England, plans to focus more on collaborative projects so he's able to spend more time with his family.

"Quite often, I'll come home [from tour], and there'll be offers to do co-writing or production, and I'll just have to say no because I'll want to hang out with my kids," he shares. "I want to swap the touring for collaborating so I don't have to feel guilty about doing it or feel like I'm neglecting anyone. It's nice for people to realize what it's like when we're not around. If we're there playing the same songs, people will get bored. It's nice to have a break, isn't it?"

The current tour is in support of the band's 2022 album, Small World, which, compared to Metronomy's usual upbeat, indie-pop sound, is more sonically stripped back and slowed down. Written during the pandemic, Mount's songwriting for the album dug deeper into existential themes of reflection, loneliness, and love.

"Certain songs like 'Things Will Be Fine' or 'Right on Time' seem to have this connection with people, which makes me really excited," Mount says of the album. "It's interesting because the record was made during the pandemic, and it was toured fresh out of it when people were able to go to concerts for the first time. It feels like it's straddled this unusual time."
Nine months after Small World's release, Metronomy released a special edition with reimagined versions of the songs by some of the band's favorite artists, such as Sébastien Tellier, Panic Shack, Porij, and Bolis Pupul. The band is no stranger to having its tracks remixed, like MGMT's rework of "The Look" to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its breakthrough album, The English Riviera.

But for Small World (Special Edition), Mount wanted to do something different than the usual remixes, instead letting the artists record their own version of the tracks, leading to Panic Shack's punk spin on "It's Good to Be Back" and a slowed down, French-language version of "I Have Seen Enough" by Sébastien Tellier.

"Because of how everything has shifted toward the world of streaming, you want to keep feeding that machine," Mount notes. "When I started making music, you put out an album, and that was enough. You do some singles, you do some remixes. Now, you need to keep feeding the thing. The challenge is always to do that in a way that's interesting. I thought it would be nice, instead of just doing a remix record, to try and get different interpretations — call them remixes or call them whatever, cover versions, really — by picking people you respect and admire and see if they want to give their own take on your song."

Small World (Special Edition) also marks Metronomy's final release for Because Music, the Paris-based indie label it was signed to for nearly two decades.

While horror stories between artists and their labels are countless, Mount says that despite the many personnel changes the label has seen over the years, the band's experience with Because Music has been a positive one.

"You know, you spend your whole youth dreaming of getting a record deal, and to be sort of happy that you don't have one seems a bit ironic. I was without a record deal until I was 25 years old, and I was with a record deal for about 18 years. It ends up having a topsy-turvy thing where it's quite exciting to be a free agent again."

As a recently independent musician, Mount plans to stay busy and work on a follow-up to Posse Vol 1., the 2021 collaborative five-track EP.

"I'm going to do more of them," Mount says. "There will be an announcement at some point about who I'll be doing those with. I'll be working with a different label for them and having a bit of fun. That's my plan."

Metronomy. With Paperwater. 7 p.m. Sunday, November 19, at the Miami Beach Bandshell, 7275 Collins Ave., Miami Beach; miamibeachbandshell.com. Tickets cost $46.35 at dice.fm.