It’s amusing to read that the music press is finally coming around to Emily Haines’ solo work. Her work with The Soft Skeleton (a shifting collection of her musical friends) is something that needs to seep into you: listeners’ obligations are to let it rust a while, then come back to it and listen again, repeatedly.

This opener from her new EP, What Is Free to a Good Home, begins with horns that puff exhaustedly before Emily happily declares that “I’ve been told I’m living a lie.. all my life.” Emily’s piano work alternates between complimentary chords and rhythmic cyclic runs that are more valuable for what they leave behind than how they sound. Only near the end of the song do the horns and chords combine to help Emily reflect on the rowboat. It is, predictably, just an incidental observation to something that goes much deeper.

Amazon UK (Import)