What's in a plural? Well, in the case of Metals, it is important. It differentiates the Melbourne-based band from the heavier strands of rock, while also implying this is an outfit that might contain more than a few elements capable of conducting an electric vibe.
Metals, a band whose principal aim is to make you move, to shake and sweat more than a little, is the brainchild of Christopher Coe, one of those chaps who used to be in a band until he discovered dance music some two decades ago, whereupon he turned into a techno troglodyte able to turn his hand to producing beats and DJing late into the night.
Coe still has that tendency. As Digital Primate, his long-running solo project, he has released a series of club tracks and played shows on festival stages around the world.
It was in that guise that he first worked with Metals singer Candice Butler, collaborating with her on 2006 album Siege Mentality.
Though the pair have subsequently done another album together, 2009's Keep Calm And Carry On, there has been some residue, some material that didn't quite fit within the focus of Digital Primate's work. Hence Metals: the logical next step for the pair.
Coe doubled Metals' line-up, bringing in a drummer and guitarist while he turned his hand to the bass. The decision to expand was prompted by both creative and financial concerns, Coe explains via telephone from Melbourne.
"Let's face it, people don't buy records that much any more, so to be a recording artist is not really that viable any more. So we have to have a band. It's an exciting challenge for me, having been a DJ and recording artist for so long. It's a new creative challenge - I haven't been in a band for about 20 years.
"After doing a whole lot of gigs it now feels really exciting," Coe says.
The band has been busy playing festivals in Australia. Having released a string of singles in Australia, including Drop Your Guard, which features the theme from Doctor Who, the group is now working on an album.
The range of styles Coe and company bring to Metals is wide, an amalgam of electronica, rock, aggressive funk and topped by Butler's vocal approach, which draws on artists such as India.Arie and Me'shell Ndegeocello.
"Candice has been singing neo-soul since she was knee-high to a grasshopper and I come from a much more underground, techno background.
"With the guitars and stuff it's just rock.
"It is a pastiche of styles but I hope there is enough of a thread going through it to hold it all together," Coe says, adding he sometimes worries the band has too many things going on, in an "age where you need to state your case in one word or less in order to get people's attention".
Though Metals employs forms of technology often found in hip-hop and electronica (for example, computer-based sequencers and samplers), it is music with a palpable human essence; there is both a sense of fun and a serious side to the group's songs.
"If you are going to be out there in public you should be able to say what you think," Coe says.
"There is definitely a strong political thing going on ... we do have strong opinions about a lot of subjects and are happy to share them openly."
One such example is recent single Get Yourself A Gun, on which Butler's smoky voice breaks into a staccato refrain deploring the use of weapons.
The flipside is the fun to be had in the funk.
"It is nice to just escape, have a respite from life," Coe says. "You don't have to listen to the lyrics deeply when you are at a gig or even to a recording."
SEE THEM
- Metals performs at the Dunedin Town Hall on Saturday, February 26, as part of Orientation 2011. Also on the bill are Minuit, Ladi6, DJ Rekha, Kween G and DJ Bad Ezzy. For more info go to www.ousa.org.nz.
