Social Scene siren Emily Haines gave her impressive CV some extra padding with last year's Knives Don't Have Your Back, essentially her solo debut, fronting the Soft Skeleton. "The Bank" is track from that project's forthcoming EP, designed as a "companion piece" to that languorous effort -- and in a sample-sized serving, Emily's chilled out piano tracks are lovely and gripping. What Is Free To A Good Home? was recorded during the Knives session and is named after a poem written by her father Paul Haines, and you get the feeling throughout this is a project of personal expression, not necessarily musical rebellion (never fear Metric fans, paramour/musical mate Jimmy Shaw is the record's producer). "The Bank"'s steady shuffle and smoky horn arrangements see Em feeling kinda blue and looking for a new drug, a hotspot, or maybe just somebody to sit on the floor with her and listen to records. Can't imagine she'd have too much trouble there.
The What Is Free To A Good Home? EP together with Paul Haines's poetry collection Secret Carnival Workers on 7/24 via Last Gang.
