Metric’s Emily Haines Revisits ‘Black Sheep’ Legacy

*Emily Haines of Metric performs at The Greek Theatre on June 09, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)*

Metric’s All the Feelings tour behind the band’s new album, Romanticize the Dive, resumes Friday in Chicago.

During the tour’s first leg in June, Emily Haines and the band ended each concert with their 2010 song “Black Sheep,” a track that has become one of Metric’s best-loved songs despite never appearing on one of the band’s albums.

Haines says “Black Sheep” was first written around the sessions for Metric’s 2009 album, Fantasies, but was ultimately left off the record.

“This is something that I had brought in, lyrically, they’re just like, ‘What the f*** are you talking about?'” Haines recalls of the band’s initial “Black Sheep” thoughts.

The song later found another path when a new movie called Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, adapted from the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, was in development.

The books include a fictional band named The Clash at Demonhead, which O’Malley based on Metric, though Haines laughs that she’s “sweeter” than The Clash at Demonhead’s singer, Envy Adams.

Edgar Wright, the film’s director, reached out to Metric, and the band offered “Black Sheep” for the project.

“When [Wright] heard it, he was just like, ‘This sounds like it was written for the scene,'” Haines says. “And I completely agree, and I don’t know why.”

In the film, a pre-Captain Marvel Brie Larson plays Envy Adams and performs “Black Sheep,” adding another layer to the song’s lasting place in pop culture.

For Haines, the track’s success also supports one of her broader beliefs about life.

“I love that stuff, because it just confirms my belief that we’re basically powerless,” Haines says. “You just have to truck along and, like, do your best, follow some instinct, but you have really no idea what’s gonna happen next.”

This article was adapted from original reporting by ABC Audio, as featured on 105.7 The Point.