Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton - Knives Don't Have Your Back

  by Sarah Maybank

published: 28 / 6 / 2007

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We’ll give twenty quid and a slightly worn Free Paris Hilton T-shirt to anyone who can think of an artist less suited than Emily Haines to deck their album in the black and gilt livery of 'Abba Gold'. On second thoughts, we’re keeping the T-shirt because the simple answer is, even the north and south poles have less distance between them than Haines and the Volvo-outselling Swedes. Employing mainly voice and piano Haines has created something so delicate and downbeat it’ll have the terminally introspective clutching tear-soaked hankies before it even starts playing. And anyone even slightly thicker-skinned – The Beano’s Walter The Softy, say - pelting towards the nearest 'Ross Kemp On Gangs' box set for blessed relief. Metric chanteuse Haines wastes her warm, sweet voice during the first half of 'Knives..', letting it loll semi-melodically over the type of gentle piano noodling you hear in the background of TV documentaries about euthanasia. Things perk up when she discovers tempo in the second half, though, and drums and bass give the whole thing a bit of backbone. Give it a few listens and hooks gradually emerge like tentative sun rays behind a dark grey cloud, but we’re warning you, don’t be expecting to adapt your 'Dancing Queen' choreography for anything on 'Knives...' any time soon.

Track Listing:-

1 Our Hell
2 Doctor Blind
3 Crowd Surf Off A Cliff
4 Detective Daughter
5 The Lottery
6 The Maid Needs A Maid
7 Mostly Waving
8 Reading In Bed
9 Nothing & Nowhere
10 The Last Page
11 Winning

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