Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton

The Profile

Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton is the solo project of Canadian singer-songwriter Emily Haines (lead vocalist of Metric). The project is known for piano-led, introspective releases including Knives Don’t Have Your Back (2006), the EP What Is Free to a Good Home? (2007), and Choir Of The Mind (2017). Haines has also collaborated with Broken Social Scene.

Emily Haines (born 1974) is the lead singer of Metric and the founder of her solo project The Soft Skeleton. Her father, poet Paul Haines, collaborated with Carla Bley on Escalator Over the Hill (1971) and Tropic Appetites (1974). She has appeared with Broken Social Scene and has released solo work under Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton since 2006.

Two DeBaser reviews paint Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton as an introspective, piano-driven project with downtempo elegance and emotional heft. Knives Don’t Have Your Back leads the way, evoking comparisons to Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, and Portishead. Arrangements are praised as precise and voice as piercing yet delicate. The overall sentiment is warmly positive and deeply immersive.