Who loves Emily Haines? I love Emily Haines. And you should too. She is extraordinary. She is the front woman of Metric, one of the many superstars who contributes to Broken Social Scene, and most recently, solo artist. Known for her beautiful lilting melodies and her fragile beautiful voice, she adds a certain depth to Metric and Broken Social Scene that bring them up a level into indie rock legends. On her new solo album, she is more exposed than usual, most often only accompanied with a piano, a beat and occasional strings, yet her voice has never sounded better.

As a member of Broken Social Scene, she has sung some amazing songs, including my favorite BSS song, "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl," off their breakthrough "You Forgot It In People."

As a member of Metric, she has released two albums officially (finished in 2001, their "debut" titled "Grow Up and Blow Away" was never released because of a conflict with their record label, however Last Gang Records recently purchased the rights and plan to release it in 2007.) In 2003, Metric released "Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?" to much critical acclaim. Their most recent album, "Live It Out" was released last year, and has garnered them even more attention. Out of the three, I like "Grow Up and Blow Away" the best, so I think they will become even more popular upon its release next year.

Last week, Emily released a solo album, titled "Knives Don't Have Your Back," and it is more stripped down than anything she has done before. It features Sparklehorse's Scott Minor, members of Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric. Emily said “When I was a little kid…I would creep downstairs to the piano and write rudimentary songs about imaginary places. I’m told the first song I ever wrote was a love song to a cranberry tree. I always used the mute pedal. I hated the idea of anybody hearing me. Everywhere I’ve lived while working with Metric, I’ve written songs on the piano and played them for no one. On the advice of a friend, I decided I’d better start recording them before they were forgotten. Four meandering years later I ended up with this collection of songs featuring a few of my favorite people, a group I call The Soft Skeleton.”

Although she released this solo album, she stated that her main priority is still Metric, and Broken Social Scene announced that they are going on hiatus after their fall tour, so we should expect either more Metric, or a Emily Haines solo tour. I would be content with any of it, and am driving five and a half hours to Ann Arbor in order to see BSS.

Pardon my banter, Emily Haines gets me excited.

MP3: Metric - Parkdale - Grow Up and Blow Away (2001)
MP3: Metric - Raw Sugar - Grow Up and Blow Away (2001)
MP3: Metric - Succexy - Old World Underground, Where Are You Know? (2003)
MP3: Metric - Monster Hospital - Live It Out (2005)

MP3: Broken Social Scene - Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl - You Forgot It In People (2002)
MP3: Broken Social Scene - Swimmers - Broken Social Scene (2005)

MP3: Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton - Detective Daughter - Knives Don't Have Your Back (2006)
MP3: Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton - The Lottery - Knives Don't Have Your Back (2006)




BONUS!!
Because I like watching Emily Haines, and because this music video is wierd, here is the music video for Monster Hospital.