Metric - Pagans In Vegas (2015)

Pagans in Vegas deepens the new-wave dalliances of its predecessor (2012's Synthetica) with their slinkiest, slickest palette to date. Depeche Mode’s influence is impossible to ignore – opening track "Lie Lie Lie" and mid-album highlight "Too Bad, So Sad" take their rhythmic cues from the bluesy strut of "Personal Jesus", while "For Kicks" channels the nocturnal throb of "Precious". The cartoonish 8-bit bleep-bloops adorning tracks like "The Shade", meanwhile, belie a quirkier, '80s-arcade inspiration.