Emily Haines of Metric Talks Solo Album (Pitchfork)

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Emily Haines of Metric Talks Solo Album (Pitchfork)

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Exclusive: Emily Haines of Metric Talks Solo Album

Matthew Solarski reports:
Hot on the heels of fellow Broken Social Scenester Amy Millan (and in line with speculation about pretty much everyone else in BSS), Metric frontwoman Emily Haines has just announced a foray into the sometimes treacherous realm of solo-record-dom. Will she soar all Justin Timberlake stylee, or crash-n-burn like that dude from the Dismemberment Plan? How will Metric fans respond? How will the blog-o-verse receive her? What will the adult contemporary community think??

In an attempt to dispel at least some of the drama careening through these questions, Pitchfork caught up with Miss Haines for a revealing little tête-à-tête. But first! The facts: Canada's Last Gang Records (also home to Metric, DFA1979, MSTRKRFT, and Tiga) will deliver Haines' debut solo outing, Knives Don't Have Your Back, on September 26. There's talk Knives may come with a bonus disc, or possibly even be a double album.

Tentative tracklist? You got it:

01 Our Hell
02 The Lottery
03 Doctor Blind
04 Nothing & Nowhere
05 Crowd Surf off a Cliff
06 The Maid Needs a Maid
07 Mostly Waving
08 City of Night
09 Reading in Bed
10 Detective Daughter
11 Winning
12 The Last Page

Just don't expect the slick, hooky, electro-tinged rock that has Metric fans living it out on the dance floor. Knives is a decidedly quieter affair, awash in plaintive piano, deeply personal, and downright melancholy at parts. "An intimate and subtle collection of mellow, piano-driven tunes complimented by soft string and horn arrangements," exclaims the press release.

However, as Haines told Pitchfork, these two sonic outlets have more in common than one might think. Knives draws from "the same source material as every Metric song," she said. "That's pretty melancholy, too. We just have the mandate to put energy behind it. [Metric] is all about pulling yourself out of what's making you feel bad by being honest about it, by naming it, you know?"

"These [solo] songs are still the same, they're the source mood for every Metric tune, but without the benefit of my friends rocking out behind them."

To sharpen Knives, Haines enlisted the aid of producer John O'Mahony, as well as Metric's Jimmy Shaw, Sparklehorse's Scott Minor, string-arranger Todor Kobalov, and some requisite Canadian indie supergroupies: Stars' Evan Cranley and Chris Seligman lay down some horns, while BSS's Justin Peroff provides occasional drum-work.

So why take the solo plunge? "I've always written [music]. I've always played the piano," Emily explained. "And until recently-- with Metric being a touring band-- that's what I did. I'd be at home, usually hiding in some room playing the piano. It just made sense that I would finally release some of this music. Friends sort of encouraged me to do so."

Four years in the making, Knives serves as a collection of story-songs from Emily's life and wears its influences proudly: namely noted jazz-composer Carla Bley, art-rocker Robert Wyatt ("when I was a kid I always wrote him letters, because he just meant so much to me," mused Emily), and most of all, her father, the late poet Paul Haines (who, incidentally, wrote the libretto for Bley's Escalator Over the Hill).

The unexpected death of her father in 2003 gave Emily a renewed sense of purpose. "When he died, I was just like, 'Oh fuck.' It's important that these things don't get lost-- just a sense of urgency and just that if there's music, we should make it."

Emily plans to play out her songs later this year, and already has a gig set at the Toronto Film Festival in mid-September. For the occasion she hopes to put together a multimedia presentation invoking images from Canadian film director Guy Maddin. That is, if she can summon the nerve to perform!

"Really, it's scary. It's so hard to just be alone up there. But I like it."

Wait, Emily Haines, scared? "Oh, that's funny. A lot of people tell you, usually there's a reason, that when people have to get up a lot of nerve, it's because they're really shy. Why do you think Prince needs all those outfits?"

Metric, meanwhile, play Coachella this weekend and have already begun "sketching out ideas for the next record." They hit up Europe next month with the Rogers Sisters. Behold:

04-30 Indio, CA - Empire Polo Field (Coachella Festival)
05-10 Munich, Germany - Atomic Café *
05-11 Cologne, Germany - Prime Club *
05-12 Hamburg, Germany - Molotow *
05-13 Berlin, Germany - Karrera Klub *
05-15 York, England - Fibbers
05-16 Glasgow, Scotland - Barfly
05-17 Birmingham, England - Barfly
05-18 London, England - Barfly
05-19 Brighton, England - The Great Escape

* with the Rogers Sisters

* Pitchfork Review: Metric: Live It Out
* Metric: http://www.ilovemetric.com
* Last Gang: http://lastgangrecords.com
-tom

~"Let there be no conflict in America, if you bother me, I whup yo' ass."~Charles Barkley
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Post by *Annie* »

Love Metric. She could do well, I suppose.
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Post by obiwankobe »

they be cool
-tom

~"Let there be no conflict in America, if you bother me, I whup yo' ass."~Charles Barkley
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