ON REPEAT: Metric’s Synthetica Reflections & App
Written by Julian Gonzalez
Metric released Synthetica Reflections last week, the companion album to last year’s critically-acclaimed Synthetica. Synthetica Reflections is an instrumental remake of the original Synthetica album, performed entirely on a variety of analog synthesizers and produced by the band’s guitarist, James Shaw.
Not only did Metric release the new album, but they also released an interactive app. Synthetica App for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch is an interactive eleven song experience featuring both albums Synthetica and Synthetica Reflections. The user gets to remix, filter, and sequence songs how they want. You can change the instruments and their speed, and turn tracks on and off to create your own Metric-inspired songs. There are two different features: remix songs by painting patterns or remix songs by sliding finger gestures over warping surreal scenery.
Both albums and the apps design were inspired by the work of Superstudio, a late-1960s Italian architecture collective spearheaded by Cristiano Toraldo and Adolfo Natalini whose conceptual architecture promoted the harmony of people, nature and technology.
The Synthetica App is available for free exclusively from the App Store. The free app includes one track, ‘Lost Kitten’, with others available to buy for $0.99 each as in-app purchases, or $7.99 for the whole album.
Julian Gonzalez is a Silicon Valley-Based graphic designer, artist and writer. He loves cats, food, music and anything free. You can follow his adventures on Twitter @NoHosFinestDime, but he doesn’t tweet anything.
