Emily Haines is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter. She is the lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the band Metric and a member of Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she has performed under her own name and under the moniker Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton. Haines possesses a soprano vocal range. 　　Born in New Delhi, India, and raised in Fenelon Falls, Ontario, Haines grew up as a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, the latter related to her American-born parents. She is the daughter of Canadian poet Paul Haines. Haines's mother started a school in India. Her sister is the Canadian television journalist Avery Haines and her brother is Tim Haines, owner of Bluestreak Records in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. 　　After settling in Fenelon Falls, Ontario at the age of three, she grew up in a house rich with experimental art and musical expression. Paul would often make cassettes of rare and eclectic music for his daughter to listen to and her early influences included Carla Bley, Robert Wyatt, and later PJ Harvey. By her teens, she followed in her parents' footsteps by attending the Etobicoke School of the Arts (ESA) to study drama. There she met Amy Millan and Kevin Drew, with whom she would later collaborate in Broken Social Scene (co-founded by Drew), a musical collective. During their time at ESA, Haines and Millan formed their first band together (around 1990), and she also briefly dated Drew. 　　Haines attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver between 1992 and 1993, and Concordia University in Montreal 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. 　　Haines's middle name is Savitri. She is named after Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, an epic poem by Sri Aurobindo. Haines met James Shaw in Toronto in 1997. Initially, the duo's name was "Mainstream". After releasing an EP entitled Mainstream EP, they changed the band's name to "Metric", after a sound that was programmed by Shaw on his keyboard in 1997 or 1998. In 2001, Winstead and Scott-Key joined them. 　　As of September 2018, Metric has released seven 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), and Art of Doubt (2018). 　　During her time in Metric, 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 and Todor Kobakov. 　　In 2004, Metric appeared in the 2004 drama film Clean. Haines and the rest of the band, appearing as themselves, performed their song "Dead Disco" and completed minor speaking roles in a backstage scene. "Dead Disco" also featured on Clean Original Soundtrack. 　　In 2006, Haines released the studio album Knives Don't Have Your Back, under the moniker "Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton". The songs "Our Hell" and "Doctor Blind" were issued as singles and corresponding music videos were produced. Knives Don't Have Your Back was followed in 2007 by the EP What Is Free to a Good Home?—recordings that were inspired by the death of her father. 　　Her solo work is typically more subdued and piano-based than her work with Metric. She occasionally plays solo shows, with Amy Millan featured as the opening act. 　　According to Haines, the album Synthetica is "about forcing yourself to confront what you see in the mirror when you finally stand still long enough to catch a reflection. Synthetica is about being able to identify the original in a long line of reproductions. It's about what is real vs what is artificial." The album contains the song "The Wanderlust", Haines's collaboration with Lou Reed. 　　Haines has explained that she is a "big leaver" when she encounters difficulty with the creative process, or is lacking inspiration. Prior to the fourth Metric album Fantasies, Haines traveled to Argentina. Haines further explains: "The advice that I would give anyone is just get over yourself and forget yourself. Realize what you don't know ... Don't be so precious about yourself." 　　Emily Haines became good friends with Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson before Reed's death. When Lou Reed and Emily met, he asked if she would rather be The Beatles or The Rolling Stones and she shot back "Velvet Underground." 　　Haines performed with Broken Social Scene on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 30 March 2017. 　　Haines contributed to Broken Social Scene's album Hug of Thunder, released summer 2017. It is their first new album in seven years. In May 2017, Haines was with Broken Social Scene in Manchester, England, the night after the terror attack at the Ariana Grande concert. Haines attributes her ability to carry on and play after the attack to the support of former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. 　　Haines released the second studio album as Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton, titled Choir of the Mind on 15 September 2017. The album's lead single "Fatal Gift" was released on 9 June 2017. The album was released by Last Gang Records/eOne. This will be her first solo release in one decade. Choir of the Mind was recorded during September and October 2016 in Toronto. 　　A tour supporting "Choir of the Mind" took place throughout North America in late 2017.