Knives Don't Have Your Back

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Knives Don't Have Your Back
Studio album by Emily Haines
Released	September 26, 2006
Recorded	2005
Genre	Indie rock
Length	43:04
Label	Last Gang Records
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Pitchfork Media (7.3/10) link Rockfeedback link Stylus Magazine (B+) link This Is Fake DIY link Uncut Magazine Link Urb link
Emily Haines chronology
Cut in Half and Also Double (1996) Knives Don't Have Your Back (2006) What Is Free to a Good Home? (2007)

Knives Don't Have Your Back is the first album to be officially released by Canadian artist Emily Haines (and the Soft Skeleton). The album was released in September 2006 on Last Gang Records. It debuted at 28 in Canada and has sold 20,000 copies there.

The album is a collection of piano-driven songs backed with soft strings and horns and is said to feature guest spots by Sparklehorse's Scott Minor, members of Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric. Although she is releasing this solo record, she has stated that Metric is her first priority.

She is quoted as saying the following: “When I was a little kid…I would creep downstairs to the piano and write rudimentary songs about imaginary places. I’m told the first song I ever wrote was a love song to a cranberry tree. I always used the mute pedal. I hated the idea of anybody hearing me. Everywhere I’ve lived while working with Metric, I’ve written songs on the piano and played them for no one. On the advice of a friend, I decided I’d better start recording them before they were forgotten. Four meandering years later I ended up with this collection of songs featuring a few of my favorite people, a group I call The Soft Skeleton.”

The album's art is based on that of Escalator over the Hill, Haines' late father Paul Haines' album with Carla Bley.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Our Hell" – 4:09
2. "Doctor Blind" – 3:57
3. "Crowd Surf Off a Cliff" – 5:56
4. "Detective Daughter" – 5:10
5. "The Lottery" – 3:45
6. "The Maid Needs a Maid" – 3:21
7. "Mostly Waving" – 3:12
8. "Reading in Bed" – 2:49
9. "Nothing and Nowhere" – 3:24
10. "The Last Page" – 4:49
11. "Winning" – 5:08
12. "The Bank" (UK bonus track) – 3:04
13. "Bottom of the World" (UK bonus track) – 2:46
14. "Sprig" (UK bonus track) – 3:56
15. "Mostly Waving" (Todork remix, iTunes bonus track and single of the week June 2, 2007) – 4:35

[edit] Trivia

• The song "Our Hell" was featured at the end of "Darkroom", episode 105 in season 5 of CSI: Miami.
• The songs "Detective Daughter" and "Doctor Blind" share similar titles to those on Escalator Over the Hill, an album by her father, Paul Haines and Carla Bley. There are two songs on Escalator Over the Hill entitled "Doctor Why" and "Detective Writer Daughter."
• Music videos have been released for "Doctor Blind" and "Our Hell", both directed by Jaron Albertin.
• The UK bonus tracks "The Bank," "Bottom of the World," "Sprig," and "Mostly Waving (Todork remix)" were released on the companion EP What Is Free to a Good Home?