Emily Haines says that when her band, Metric, sets out to create music that will eventually wind up on an album, there usually isn't a clear plan for the musical direction of an album or how the band will go about doing the record.

That was certainly the case with Metric's new CD, "Fantasies," which took the band on very much of a long and winding path before it was finished and ready to join the group's three-album catalog.

"The way we work as a band is, we really do just follow the way things feel," Haines said in a mid-May phone interview. "If something doesn't feel right, we don't do it. … Ultimately, it's our sense that music is just an expression of feeling. … You're trying to crystallize feeling. That's all it is. So as much as we'd like to say we meticulously and ploddingly planned every stage of the way, it's really not true. We just kind of followed what we felt like the songs needed."

The band will perform Sunday at the Oceanside Pier Plaza Amphitheater as part of the FM 94/9 Independence Jam.

"Fantasies" ended up being the product of two-plus years of writing and recording, and at least three different writing and recording sessions.

The story began at Bear Creek studio, an isolated facility north of Seattle where singer/keyboardist Haines and her bandmates -- guitarist Jimmy Shaw, bassist Joshua Winstead and drummer Joules Scott Key -- did an initial round of writing for the album.

"We had this incredible snowstorm," Haines said. "So we were snowed in, and that's when we started writing the record. It was our Fleetwood Mac phase of the writing. So we brought in the warmth and I convinced myself that I sounded like Rod Stewart when he was in the Faces."

Early on, the band booked a tour of the United States essentially to gauge the batch of songs that were being considered for the album.

"We had a bunch of songs that we had written previously that we thought might be the record, did a road test, and frankly, the songs failed," Haines said. "They didn't feel like they had the timeless quality we were looking for."

With the new record stalled, the band decided to take a break to do individual projects. Haines tried her hand at solo work, cutting a CD, "Knives Don't Have Your Back" and an EP, "What Is Free to a Good Home?" and going on tour. It was on this tour that musically things fell apart for her, and for a time, she wasn't sure whether there would be a future for Metric or her solo career.

The tipping point came March 30, 2008, at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto. About 40 minutes into her show, Haines stopped the proceedings and told the audience she didn't want to play the songs anymore. She spent the next half hour talking to the fans and encouraging them to come on stage and join her as she finished the show with the Metric song "Live It Out."

Feeling the need to get out from under music, Haines booked a trip to Argentina. She didn't tell her bandmates at the time, but she wasn't sure she would ever write songs again. She admitted that this was a bit of self-psychology designed to aid the creative process.

"It was definitely part of tricking myself into feeling like I might never write another song again," Haines said. "It's basically like anything to not feel as though I'm sitting down and self-consciously being Emily from Metric, writing the next Metric record. So I told myself look, I'm going to live. I'm living. My life is continuing on and whatever happens is going to happen. Sure enough, as had been the case since I was 5 years old, what happens is I wrote like 15 songs."

She came back to Toronto refreshed and ready to resume work on what would become "Fantasies."

That Metric eventually delivered the goods with "Fantasies" will come as no surprise to those familiar with the band's previous albums, 2003's "Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?," 2005's "Live It Out," and "Grow Up and Blow Away," a 2007 release that actually was going to be Metric's first album until the band decided to shelve the project.

It may not have been a quick or easy process, but with "Fantasies," Metric has delivered arguably its strongest effort.

The album boasts a big, bold sound that suits the kind of straightforward songs the group created for "Fantasies." Crisp rockers such as "Sick Muse," "Front Row" and "Help I'm Alive" get right to the point of unleashing big melodic hooks and some serious sonic punch. Just note the big drums in "Help I'm Alive," which are paired with a dynamic guitar riff as the song kicks into overdrive.

Dreamier, more electronic-laced songs, such as "Gimme Sympathy" and "Twilight Galaxy" provide nice stylistic balance to the CD.

The new songs should give Metric's live show some added impact, and Haines said the "Fantasies" material is the centerpiece of the group's current song set.

"We're playing a lot of the new record and throwing in a few of the hits as well," she said.

FM 94/9 Independence Jam

With the Black Keys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Metric, Dead Confederate, Dirty Sweet, Scarlet Symphony, Creepy Creeps, Apes of Wrath

When: 4 p.m. June 7

Where: Oceanside Pier Plaza Amphitheater, 200 The Strand, Oceanside

Tickets: Sold out

Info: independencejam.com.