Thursday, September 11, 2008

Emily Haines - What Is Free to a Good Home? [2007]



Emily Haines caught my eye a few years ago when I learned that she was involved in two bands that I liked -- Broken Social Scene and Metric. Really it was her unusual voice, particularly in Metric for which she is the frontman, that got me paying attention. So when she came out with a solo act a couple of years ago -- Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton -- I quickly got the album "Knives Don't Have Your Back," which is great.

Emily Haines has an interesting biography. She was born in New Delhi, India and raised in Canada. Her father was a poet and mother a tv journalist. She went to an art school at an early age where she met future bandmates from BSS Kevin Drew and Amy Millan. She went on to be a part-time member of BSS (who isn't part-time in that band, really?) and then started Metric.

The most distinct thing about Emily Haines music is her voice, which has an unusual, almost childlike sound, and the dirge-like, dark piano melodies she writes for accompaniment. I think it comes together to create something rather unique. What her songs lack in range or diversity, they make up for with the beauty of the sound she creates and interesting lyrics.

Favorite songs : The Bank, Bottom of the World

Download this, her newest EP

1 comment:

Jeffrey said...

just found your blog tonight, and I'm glad I did, you upload a huge selection of different albums, some of which I have been wanting to hear for a while.
Thank you.