by Tina Whelski
The term “solo record” can be a bit of a misnomer. And singer Emily Haines is quick to make that point as she discusses Knives Don’t Have Your Back, her first album outside of her band Metric.
“I don’t really identify with the term ‘solo,’” says Emily Haines. “I have to call it that, but for me it was more that I make this a soundtrack-kind-of-record. That I work with other musicians and explore that. It was really less about me and more about the song.”
A departure from the bold synth-based danceable sounds and sassy persona that Haines is associated with as the frontwoman of Toronto 4-piece Metric, Knives Don’t Have Your Back offers a stripped-down sound with stirring vocals backed by piano and wisps of strings and horns. To form that sound Haines enlisted collaborators Scott Minor (Sparklehorse), Jimmy Shaw (Broken Social Scene/Metric), Stars’ Evan Cranley and Chris Seligman and Broken Social Scene’s Justin Peroff, among others.
“It was great because previously I was only able to define what I wanted the record to sound like by what I didn’t want it to sound like,” says Haines. “It’s really tricky, especially when it comes to atmospheric sounds. It can just easily turn into music for latte drinking and that’s not a good thing. It was really a fascinating process for me finding where that fine line is. So much of my favorite music is just songs. Like the Neil Young records, John Lennon solo records, Brian Eno and Robert Wyatt, Elliot Smith. Like all these people that I fucking love. I wanted to translate that same spirit into the record I was trying to make. Instead of it sounding like Jewel or something.”
Lyrically, Haines found her muse in change.
“I think in my own life I have been so preoccupied with travel and moving around and really being afraid of staying in one spot for too long,” says Haines. “I feel like this record signifies me being interested in stopping. And really the record came out of a time of intense turmoil for everyone that I knew. I guess it’s like a mid-twenties thing where the whole world that you have socially and with your family and everything that you think is so stable and solid, for this particular group of people, it all fell apart. Everyone was going from being musicians to spending all their time working in little home studios and spending all their time in generic bands, driving the highways of America. Major life changes for everyone. And definitely ‘Our Hell’ addresses that change. At the same time I really feel like the meaning of that song for me is just like, ‘Can you suck it up? I know it’s rough, and you don’t know what the hell’s going on, but your version of a big problem is still a luxury problem.’ So that song definitely hit the mood. And then I just wanted to have music to accompany me in the quieter times. I realized that everyone that I know also needs that. You come home from the rock concert and you need something to listen to in the morning when you’re in the bath tub or being sick or whatever.”
Haines’ solo effort hasn’t put Metric on hold. She’s currently crafting their new album after an intense touring schedule—over 260 shows this past year.
“It’s just really preliminary writing, but we ended up coming up with stuff that we really love and it’s been a really nice retreat back into making music,” says Haines. “That’s the thing that I’ve gotten most about putting my own record out, is realizing all those categories, people are like, ‘O.K. so now are you doing this? So now you’re a solo artist?' It’s really quite simple. I’m a musician and I really love to write songs and to record them and to play concerts.”
Emily Haines performs with backing band, The Soft Skeletons, at the Hiro Ballroom on January 9.
Originally published in The Aquarian Weekly (12/27/06).
Video for "Dr. Blind."
“I don’t really identify with the term ‘solo,’” says Emily Haines. “I have to call it that, but for me it was more that I make this a soundtrack-kind-of-record. That I work with other musicians and explore that. It was really less about me and more about the song.”
A departure from the bold synth-based danceable sounds and sassy persona that Haines is associated with as the frontwoman of Toronto 4-piece Metric, Knives Don’t Have Your Back offers a stripped-down sound with stirring vocals backed by piano and wisps of strings and horns. To form that sound Haines enlisted collaborators Scott Minor (Sparklehorse), Jimmy Shaw (Broken Social Scene/Metric), Stars’ Evan Cranley and Chris Seligman and Broken Social Scene’s Justin Peroff, among others.
“It was great because previously I was only able to define what I wanted the record to sound like by what I didn’t want it to sound like,” says Haines. “It’s really tricky, especially when it comes to atmospheric sounds. It can just easily turn into music for latte drinking and that’s not a good thing. It was really a fascinating process for me finding where that fine line is. So much of my favorite music is just songs. Like the Neil Young records, John Lennon solo records, Brian Eno and Robert Wyatt, Elliot Smith. Like all these people that I fucking love. I wanted to translate that same spirit into the record I was trying to make. Instead of it sounding like Jewel or something.”
Lyrically, Haines found her muse in change.
“I think in my own life I have been so preoccupied with travel and moving around and really being afraid of staying in one spot for too long,” says Haines. “I feel like this record signifies me being interested in stopping. And really the record came out of a time of intense turmoil for everyone that I knew. I guess it’s like a mid-twenties thing where the whole world that you have socially and with your family and everything that you think is so stable and solid, for this particular group of people, it all fell apart. Everyone was going from being musicians to spending all their time working in little home studios and spending all their time in generic bands, driving the highways of America. Major life changes for everyone. And definitely ‘Our Hell’ addresses that change. At the same time I really feel like the meaning of that song for me is just like, ‘Can you suck it up? I know it’s rough, and you don’t know what the hell’s going on, but your version of a big problem is still a luxury problem.’ So that song definitely hit the mood. And then I just wanted to have music to accompany me in the quieter times. I realized that everyone that I know also needs that. You come home from the rock concert and you need something to listen to in the morning when you’re in the bath tub or being sick or whatever.”
Haines’ solo effort hasn’t put Metric on hold. She’s currently crafting their new album after an intense touring schedule—over 260 shows this past year.
“It’s just really preliminary writing, but we ended up coming up with stuff that we really love and it’s been a really nice retreat back into making music,” says Haines. “That’s the thing that I’ve gotten most about putting my own record out, is realizing all those categories, people are like, ‘O.K. so now are you doing this? So now you’re a solo artist?' It’s really quite simple. I’m a musician and I really love to write songs and to record them and to play concerts.”
Emily Haines performs with backing band, The Soft Skeletons, at the Hiro Ballroom on January 9.
Originally published in The Aquarian Weekly (12/27/06).
Video for "Dr. Blind."
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