Emily Haines

Last updated

Emily Haines
Emily Haines 2010.jpg
Haines performing at Ottawa Bluesfest in 2010
Background information
Birth nameEmily Savitri Haines
Born (1974-01-25) January 25, 1974 (age 50)
New Delhi, India
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • guitar
  • percussion
  • harmonica
Years active1990–present
Labels Last Gang
Member of
Website www.emilyhaines.com

Emily Savitri Haines (born 25 January 1974) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is the lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the rock band Metric and a member of the musical collective Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she has performed under her own name and as Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton. Haines possesses the vocal range of a mezzo-soprano. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Born in New Delhi, [3] and raised in Fenelon Falls, Ontario, Haines is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States (her parents were both born in the US). [4] She is the daughter of Canadian poet Paul Haines; her mother founded a school for under-privileged children in India. [5] Her middle name, Savitri, is from Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol , an epic poem by Sri Aurobindo. [5] Her sister is the Canadian television journalist Avery Haines and her brother is Tim Haines, owner of Bluestreak Records in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

Haines grew up in a house rich with experimental art and musical expression and her early influences included Carla Bley, Robert Wyatt, and PJ Harvey. She studied drama at the Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA), where she met Amy Millan and Kevin Drew, with whom she would later collaborate in Broken Social Scene (co-founded by Drew). During their time at ESA, Haines and Millan formed their first band together. [6]

Haines attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver between 1992 and 1993, and Montreal's Concordia University between 1995 and 1996. In 1996, she distributed a limited-edition album entitled Cut in Half and Also Double that included songs written and recorded during her student years. [7]

Professional music

Haines in 2006 Emily-Haines.jpg
Haines in 2006

Haines met James Shaw in Toronto in 1997 and began performing as a duo called "Mainstream". [8] After releasing an EP entitled Mainstream EP , they changed the band's name to "Metric", after a sound programmed by Shaw on his keyboard. [8] Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott-Key joined the band in 2001. [9] As of 2023, Metric has released nine studio albums: Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003), Live It Out (2005), Grow Up and Blow Away (2007, but recorded in 2001), Fantasies (2009), Synthetica (2012), Pagans in Vegas (2015), Art of Doubt (2018), Formentera (2022), and Formentera II (2023).

Haines also contributed vocals or backing vocals to songs by Broken Social Scene, Jason Collett, Stars, Delerium, K-Os, KC Accidental, The Stills, Tiësto, The Crystal Method, Rezz, and Todor Kobakov. [10]

In 2004, Metric appeared in the 2004 drama film Clean . The band, appearing as themselves, performed their song "Dead Disco" and had minor speaking roles in a backstage scene. "Dead Disco" also featured on Clean Original Soundtrack . In 2010, she appeared as part of Broken Social Scene, on the soundtrack for the film This Movie is Broken . [11] In 2006, as Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton, Haines released the studio album Knives Don't Have Your Back . The songs "Our Hell" and "Doctor Blind" were issued as singles and corresponding music videos were produced. Following the release, Haines undertook a tour of North America in January 2007. [12] Knives Don't Have Your Back was followed in 2007 by the EP What Is Free to a Good Home? , which was inspired by the death of her father. [13] Her solo work is typically more subdued and piano-based than her work with Metric. [14] She often appears with Amy Millan as her opening act. [15]

Prior to the fourth Metric album Fantasies, Haines traveled to Argentina to write. [16] [17] She became good friends with Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson before Reed's death in 2013. [18]

Haines contributed to Broken Social Scene's 2017 album Hug of Thunder [19] and performed with Broken Social Scene on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 30 March 2017. [20] [21] In May 2017, Haines was with Broken Social Scene in Manchester, England, the night after the terror attack at the Ariana Grande concert; she attributes her ability to carry on and play after the attack to the support of former The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. [22]

On September 15, 2017, Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton released the album Choir of the Mind ; it was recorded a year earlier in Toronto and released by Last Gang Records and eOne (Entertainment One). [5] [23] [24] The album's lead single, "Fatal Gift", was released on 9 June 2017. [25] In support of the album, Haines toured North America in late 2017. [26]

In late 2023, Haines appeared in Scott Pilgrim Takes Off as the singing voice of Envy Adams, with her speaking voice provided by Brie Larson.

Instruments

When performing with Metric, Haines plays two synthesizers. Her primary synthesizer is a Sequential Circuits Pro-One, which she has played since the band's early years. [27] As secondary synthesizer, she played a Kawai MP9000, [28] which was replaced by E-mu's PK-6 Proteus Keys in 2003, and was followed by the Clavia Nord Wave in 2012. She also plays the tambourine, electric guitar, piano and harmonica. [29] [30]

Other projects

In August 2013, Haines became involved with FLEET4HEARme, a collaboration with Fleet Jewelry and HearMe, an organization that aims to increase children's access to music programs in public schools. [31] In September 2015, the Canadian outerwear brand Rudsak unveiled a leather jacket customized by Haines. [32] The jacket is a classic black motor-cycle style with lyrics from Metric song "The Governess" on the back.

Metric is active in the international advocacy organization Global Citizen, and Haines is involved with its girls and women issues campaign #SheDecides. [33] In 2017, Haines partnered with House of Matriarch High Perfumery to create her own fragrance, "Siren". [34]

Discography

Haines at Coachella 2008 Emily Haines of Metric live at Coachella 2008.jpg
Haines at Coachella 2008

Emily Haines

Albums

Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton

Albums

EPs

Singles

Music videos

Metric

Albums

Collaborations

The following songs are credited with Emily Haines on either lead or backing vocals:

ArtistSongAlbum and Year
Broken Social Scene "Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl" You Forgot It in People (2002)
"Looks Just Like the Sun"
"Backyards" Bee Hives (2004)
"Windsurfing Nation" Broken Social Scene (2005)
"Swimmers"
"Superconnected"
"Bandwitch"
"Her Disappearing Theme" To Be You and Me EP (2005)
"Sentimental X's" Forgiveness Rock Record (2010)
"Protest Song" Hug of Thunder (2017)
"Vanity Pail Kids"
Delerium "Stopwatch Hearts" Rarities & B-Sides (2015)
"Glimmer" Rarities & B-Sides (2015)
GoldieBlox "Lightning Strikes"
Jason Collett "Hangover Days" Idols of Exile (2005)
k-os "Uptown Girl" Yes! (2009)
KC Accidental "Them (Pop Song No. 3333)" Anthems for the Could've Bin Pills (2000)
Rezz "Paper Walls"Spiral (2021)
Stars "Going, Going, Gone" Nightsongs (2001)
"On Peak Hill"
The Crystal Method "Come Back Clean" Divided by Night (2009)
The Stills "Baby Blues" Without Feathers (2006)
Tiësto "Knock You Out" Kaleidoscope (2009)
Todor Kobakov "Carpe Diem"Pop Music (2009)
Young Artists for Haiti "Wavin' Flag"

Filmography

Guest appearances

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broken Social Scene</span> Canadian indie rock band

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band and musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the other core members of the band are Justin Peroff (drums), Andrew Whiteman (guitar) and Charles Spearin (guitar).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metric (band)</span> Canadian indie rock band

Metric is a Canadian indie rock band founded in 1998 in Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Emily Haines, James Shaw, Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott-Key. The band started in 1998 as a duo formed by Haines and Shaw with the name "Mainstream". After releasing an EP titled Mainstream EP, they changed the band's name to Metric.

KC Accidental was a Canadian post-rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band released two albums of mostly instrumental music. It later evolved into Broken Social Scene.

<i>Broken Social Scene</i> (album) 2005 studio album by Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene is the third studio album by Broken Social Scene, released on October 4, 2005. In addition to the musicians who contributed to the band's prior release You Forgot It in People, new contributors on Broken Social Scene include k-os, Jason Tait and Murray Lightburn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feist (singer)</span> Canadian musician

Leslie Feist, known mononymously as Feist, is a Canadian indie pop singer-songwriter and guitarist, performing both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock group Broken Social Scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evan Cranley</span> Canadian musician

Evan Whitney Cranley is a Canadian musician based in Montreal, Quebec. He records with the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene, although he considered joining the band Metric before finally joining Stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Millan</span> Canadian musician

Amy Millan is a Canadian indie rock singer and guitarist. She records and performs with the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene as well as having a successful solo career. Her second solo album, Masters of the Burial, was released by Arts & Crafts Productions in September 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Drew</span> Canadian musician and songwriter

Kevin Drew is a Canadian musician and songwriter who, together with Brendan Canning, founded the expansive Toronto baroque-pop collective Broken Social Scene. He was also part of the lesser-known KC Accidental, which consisted of Drew and Charles Spearin, another current member of Broken Social Scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Lobsinger</span> Musical artist

Lisa Dawn Lobsinger is an indie rock singer from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is the lead singer for the band Reverie Sound Revue and is known for her powerful voice and distinctive hair styles. Reverie Sound Revue has released an extended play and a studio album.

The Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year is presented annually at Canada's Juno Awards to honour the best album of the year in the alternative rock and/or indie rock genres. The award was first presented in 1995 under the name Best Alternative Album, and adopted its current name in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Shaw (musician)</span> Musical artist

James Shaw is a founder and lead guitarist of Canadian indie rock band Metric. He is also a member of the band Broken Social Scene and an award-winning producer.

<i>Cut in Half and Also Double</i> 1996 studio album by Emily Haines

Cut in Half and Also Double is the debut album by Canadian artist Emily Haines that she self-released in about 2,000 copies in 1996 in Toronto. The song "Carpet" contains similar lyrics and vocal melodies to those in "Too Little Too Late," which she recorded a decade later with her band Metric. "Pink" finishes with a recording of a homeless woman rambling.

<i>Knives Dont Have Your Back</i> 2006 studio album by Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton

Knives Don't Have Your Back is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton. It is not her own debut album, as she released under her own name in limited number of copies an earlier work in 1996, the Cut in Half and Also Double album, which was self-released. The album was released in September 2006 on Last Gang Records. It debuted at 28 in Canada and has sold 20,000 copies there. She has stated that Metric is still her first priority.

<i>Scott Pilgrim vs. the World</i> (soundtrack) 2010 soundtrack album by various artists

Two soundtrack albums were released for the motion picture Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: an original soundtrack and an original score. Co-writer, co-producer, and director Edgar Wright, co-producer Marc Platt, and music producer/composer Nigel Godrich, who also composed the original score, served as executive producers of both albums. The soundtrack includes music by Beck, Broken Social Scene, Metric, Black Lips, T. Rex, the Rolling Stones, Frank Black and Plumtree. They were released on August 10, 2010; the original score only on digital download. A 2021 re-release saw additional music by Brie Larson added to the soundtrack, and a physical version of the score.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todor Kobakov</span> Musical artist

Todor Kobakov is a Bulgarian-Canadian composer, producer, arranger and pianist based in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known for his solo piano album Pop Music, his commercial and film scores and for his collaborations within Toronto's indie music scene.

<i>Synthetica</i> 2012 studio album by Metric

Synthetica is the fifth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Metric, released on 12 June 2012. The first single, "Youth Without Youth", was released on 1 May 2012. "Speed the Collapse" was released as a sneak preview on 23 May 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth Without Youth (song)</span> 2012 single by Metric

"Youth Without Youth" is a song by Canadian indie rock band Metric. It was released as the lead single from their 2012 album, Synthetica. The song debuted at number 1 on the Canadian alternative rock chart and stayed at that spot for a record 16 consecutive weeks. The song tackles the subject of a fraying social state through the eyes of a deprived youth.

<i>Choir of the Mind</i> 2017 studio album by Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton

Choir of the Mind is the second studio album by Canadian singer/songwriter Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton. Coming 11 years after her first album, it was released on September 5, 2017 by Last Gang Records and elicited favorable reviews from critics. The album peaked in the top 20 of the American Heatseekers Albums chart, and also debuted in the top 50 on the Canadian Albums Chart and the American Independent Albums chart.

Ariel Engle is a Canadian indie pop singer and songwriter who records and performs as a solo artist and with Broken Social Scene.

<i>Formentera II</i> 2023 studio album by Metric

Formentera II is the ninth studio album by Canadian-American indie rock band Metric. It was released on October 13, 2023, through the band's own label Metro Music International with distribution handled by Thirty Tigers Records. It is the sequel to the band's previous album Formentera (2022).

References

  1. ↑ "Emily Haines". therangeplanet.proboards.com. The Range Planet. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  2. ↑ Arnold, Ryan (2 November 2009). "Metric's latest acoustic EP 'Plug In, Plug Out' softens its usually energetic sound". Collegiate Times. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Singh, Sonya and Puneet (25 February 2016). "Metric's Emily Haines Thinks...Feb 2016". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  4. ↑ "Taking Measurements: An Interview with Metric – PopMatters".
  5. 1 2 3 "Home". Emily Haines. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Berman, Stuart. This Book Is Broken. 2009
  7. ↑ Mullin, Kyle (7 November 2012), "Sisters of music: Metric's Emily Haines' lifelong friendship with Stars' Amy Millan", Monday Magazine, archived from the original on 18 January 2019, retrieved 18 January 2019
  8. 1 2 Marchese, David (27 July 2010). "Why They're Called... Metric – SPIN – Profiles – Spotlight". Spin. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Metric – Music Biography, Credits and Discography : AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Credits: Emily Haines". allmusic.com. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "Emily Haines 2007 Tour Dates". Brooklyn Vegan. 31 October 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  12. ↑ "Emily Haines 2007 Tour Dates". Brooklyn Vegan. 31 October 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  13. ↑ Amorosi, A.D. (29 November 2017). "Emily Haines dedicates second solo album to late father , Nov 2017". phillyvoice.com. Philly Voice. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  14. ↑ Schlanger, Talia. "Emily Haines On World Cafe, Dec 2017". npr.org. NPR. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  15. ↑ Mullin, Kyle (7 November 2012). "Sisters of Music". mondaymag.com. Monday Magazine. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  16. ↑ Fortune, Drew (15 September 2009). "Happiness Is a Warm Band". popmatters.com. Pop Matters. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  17. ↑ "Metric's Emily Haines Makes Style Poetic". refinery29. August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  18. ↑ "Metric's Emily Haines on Lou Reed's Integrity and Humor". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  19. ↑ "Broken Social Scene share first album in seven years, Hug of Thunder: Stream". Consequence of Sound. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  20. ↑ "Broken Social Scene - Halfway Home (Stephen Colbert)". youtube.com. YouTube. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  21. ↑ "Broken Social Scene Return With "Halfway Home," First New Song in 7 Years: Listen". Pitchfork. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  22. ↑ "Emily Haines Explains How Johnny Marr Helped Her Through Broken Social Scene's Post-Attack Manchester Gig". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  23. ↑ "Metric's Emily Haines Details New Solo Album 'Choir of the Mind'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  24. ↑ Thompson, Stephen (7 September 2017). "Review: Emily Haines, 'Choir Of The Mind', Sept 2017". npr.org. NPR. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  25. ↑ "Emily Haines (Metric, Broken Social Scene) Announces First New Album in 11 Years". Pitchfork. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  26. ↑ "Home". Emily Haines. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  27. ↑ "Sequential Circuits Pro-One Is Always Onstage With Emily Haines of Metric – YouTube". YouTube . 26 March 2011. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  28. ↑ "Metric – Interview in an east village bar (NY) 2001 – YouTube". YouTube . 9 August 2010. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  29. ↑ "Review: Canadian indie band Metric rocks the Fillmore Miami Beach". miami.com.
  30. ↑ "Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton – Live Review on The Red Alert".
  31. ↑ "Metric's Emily Haines Makes Style Poetic". refinery29. August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  32. ↑ "Metric's Emily Haines teams with Montreal brand Rudsak on design collaboration". Toronto Sun. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  33. ↑ Bliss, Karen (16 August 2017). "Metric's Emily Haines on Why...Aug 2017". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  34. ↑ "Metric's Emily Haines Unveils New Fragrance, Nov 2017". billboard.com. Billboard. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  35. ↑ Fay Watson (17 November 2023). "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off cameos: All of the Netflix anime guest appearances explained". gamesradar. Retrieved 18 November 2023.

Other sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.