Metric and Broken Social Scene singer Emily Haines recently revealed plans for her next solo endeavour, and now she's delivered all the details about her upcoming Choir of the Mind LP.
It's due out on September 15 via Last Gang/eOne, marking the follow-up to Haines' 2006 full-length offering Knives Don't Have Your Back and its 2007 companion EP What Is Free to a Good Home?
The new album artwork was designed by Justin Broadbent, and you can see it pictured above. The full 13-song tracklisting has also been announced and you can find it below; it features the previously shared "Fatal Gift," as well as the just unveiled "Planets." The latter arrives complete with video accompaniment (also courtesy of Broadbent), which you can watch at the bottom of the page.
Other song titles on the album include "Wounded," "Legend of the Wild Horse," "Nihilist Abyss," "Perfect on the Surface," "Statuette" and "Siren" — Haines previously told the Globe & Mail that "the through-line of this record is a fascination with feminine strength and what that looks like."
A press release explains that Haines composed the new songs "in stolen moments with her piano over the past few years of intensive work with Metric." They were recorded at Giant Studios in Toronto over a number of weeks in 2016, alongside her "spiritual advisor and musical partner" Jimmy Shaw.
Haines and Shaw co-produced the album, and Shaw also performed mixing duties. Kenny Luong engineered, and Sparklehorse drummer Scott Minor (who has appeared on earlier Haines recordings) also gets a guest credit on "Legend of the Wild Horse."
Finally, Haines has also mapped out a series of upcoming North American shows. Billed as Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, the tour will take her to hand-picked venues for unique, intimate shows. The jaunt begins in Chicago on November 28, and will come to Canada for stops in Montreal on December 4, Toronto on December 5 and Vancouver on December 7. Scroll past the Choir of the Mind tracklisting to see the full list of shows.
Choir of the Mind:
1. Planets
2. Fatal Gift
3. Strangle All Romance
4. Wounded
5. Legend of the Wild Horse
6. Nihilist Abyss
7. Minefield of Memory
8. Perfect on the Surface
9. Choir of the Mind
10. Statuette
11. Siren
12. Irish Exit
13. RIP
Tour dates:
11/28 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
11/29 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
11/30 Brooklyn, NY - Murmrr
12/02 Washington, DC - Sixth & I
12/03 Boston, MA - ICA
12/04 Montreal, QC - Église Sainte-Thérèse-d'Avila
12/05 Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
12/07 Vancouver, BC- Chan Center
12/08 Seattle, WA - Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall
12/09 Portland, OR - Revolution Hall
12/11 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
12/12 Los Angeles, CA- Masonic at Hollywood Forever
It's due out on September 15 via Last Gang/eOne, marking the follow-up to Haines' 2006 full-length offering Knives Don't Have Your Back and its 2007 companion EP What Is Free to a Good Home?
The new album artwork was designed by Justin Broadbent, and you can see it pictured above. The full 13-song tracklisting has also been announced and you can find it below; it features the previously shared "Fatal Gift," as well as the just unveiled "Planets." The latter arrives complete with video accompaniment (also courtesy of Broadbent), which you can watch at the bottom of the page.
Other song titles on the album include "Wounded," "Legend of the Wild Horse," "Nihilist Abyss," "Perfect on the Surface," "Statuette" and "Siren" — Haines previously told the Globe & Mail that "the through-line of this record is a fascination with feminine strength and what that looks like."
A press release explains that Haines composed the new songs "in stolen moments with her piano over the past few years of intensive work with Metric." They were recorded at Giant Studios in Toronto over a number of weeks in 2016, alongside her "spiritual advisor and musical partner" Jimmy Shaw.
Haines and Shaw co-produced the album, and Shaw also performed mixing duties. Kenny Luong engineered, and Sparklehorse drummer Scott Minor (who has appeared on earlier Haines recordings) also gets a guest credit on "Legend of the Wild Horse."
Finally, Haines has also mapped out a series of upcoming North American shows. Billed as Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, the tour will take her to hand-picked venues for unique, intimate shows. The jaunt begins in Chicago on November 28, and will come to Canada for stops in Montreal on December 4, Toronto on December 5 and Vancouver on December 7. Scroll past the Choir of the Mind tracklisting to see the full list of shows.
Choir of the Mind:
1. Planets
2. Fatal Gift
3. Strangle All Romance
4. Wounded
5. Legend of the Wild Horse
6. Nihilist Abyss
7. Minefield of Memory
8. Perfect on the Surface
9. Choir of the Mind
10. Statuette
11. Siren
12. Irish Exit
13. RIP
Tour dates:
11/28 Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
11/29 Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
11/30 Brooklyn, NY - Murmrr
12/02 Washington, DC - Sixth & I
12/03 Boston, MA - ICA
12/04 Montreal, QC - Église Sainte-Thérèse-d'Avila
12/05 Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
12/07 Vancouver, BC- Chan Center
12/08 Seattle, WA - Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall
12/09 Portland, OR - Revolution Hall
12/11 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
12/12 Los Angeles, CA- Masonic at Hollywood Forever
