Choir of the Mind

Choir of the Mind is the second studio album by Canadian singer/songwriter Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton. Her first solo album in 11 years, it was released on September 5, 2017 by Last Gang Records and elicited favorable reviews from critics. The album peaked in the top 20 of the American Heatseekers Albums chart, and also debuted in the top 50 on the Canadian Albums Chart and the American Independent Albums chart.

Choir of the Mind
Studio album by
Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton
ReleasedSeptember 5, 2017
RecordedSeptember–October 2016[1]
StudioGiant Studios[2]
GenrePop
Length59:10[2]
LabelLast Gang
Producer
  • Emily Haines
  • Jimmy Shaw
[3]
Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton chronology
What Is Free to a Good Home?
(2007)		 Choir of the Mind
(2017)

Composition

Many of the lyrics on the album center on feminism.[4] In an interview with Billboard, Haines responded to journalists' claims that the album is about "a woman's place in the world" by stating that: "I’m going to resist the word 'about' because its not like a record about women’s place in the world at all [...] I’m really interested in the idea of femininity as a free-standing life force, and not always constructed in relation to what it isn’t, or in opposition to masculinity, or some sort of implied animosity between the sexes or something."[5]

Release

The album was released on September 5, 2017 by Last Gang Records. It was her first solo album in 11 years; however, in that time she had released three albums as part of the indie rock group Metric,[6] in addition to contributing to two Broken Social Scene records.[6][5]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Alternative Press[8]
DIY[9]
Exclaim![10]8/10
musicOMH[6]
Now4/5[11]
PopMatters[4]
Record Collector[12]

Upon its release, the album was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. It holds a score of 75/100 on review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews," based on 11 reviews.[7] Tim Sendra, writing for AllMusic, awarded the album 4 stars out of 5, praising her vocals as possessing an "understated power and graceful beauty," singling out the album's ballads as highlights and deemed the album "richly melodic, subtly dynamic, and emotionally powerful."[2] Exclaim! awarded the album a score of 8/10 and praised "Legend of the Wild Horse" as "a quietly powerful rock ballad," concluding that the album was worth the 11-year wait.[10]

Track listing

Adapted from AllMusic.[2]

All tracks are written by Emily Haines.

No.TitleLength
1."Planets"3:08
2."Fatal Gift"6:05
3."Strangle All Romance"2:36
4."Wounded"3:51
5."Legend of the Wild Horse"4:49
6."Nihilist Abyss"4:22
7."Minefield of Memory"6:07
8."Perfect on the Surface"4:02
9."Choir of the Mind"6:51
10."Statuette"5:40
11."Siren"4:40
12."Irish Exit"2:23
13."RIP"4:36
Total length:59:10

Credits

Adapted from AllMusic.[3]

  • Justin Broadbent — artwork and photography
  • Phil Demetro — mastering
  • Emily Haines — vocals, production
  • Kenny Luono — engineering
  • Jimmy Shaw — mixing, production

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak
position
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[13] 16
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14] 44
Canadian Albums Chart (Billboard)[15] 42
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References
  1. "Emily Haines - Bio". Emily Haines. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  2. Sendra, Tim. "Review: Choir of the Mind". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  3. "Credits: "Choir of the Mind"". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  4. Kneschke, Tristan. "Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton: Choir of the Mind". PopMatters. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  5. Bliss, Karen. "Metric's Emily Haines Talks Translating the Sounds Into Her Head Into Solo Album 'Choir of the Mind'". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  6. Murphy, John. "album reviews: Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton – Choir Of The Mind". musicOMH. OMH. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  7. "Reviews and Tracks for "Choir of the Mind" by Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  8. Pettigrew, Jason. "Reviews: Emily Haines Choir Of The Mind". Alternative Press. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  9. Johnson, Eugenie. "Album Review: Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton - Choir of the Mind". DIY. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  10. Landouceur, Liisa. "Review: Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton - "Choir of the Mind"". Exclaim!. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  11. Gillis, Carla. "Emily Haines's second Soft Skeleton album was worth waiting a decade for". Now Toronto. NOW Communications. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  12. Harley, Kevin. "Review: Emily Haines - Choir of the Mind". Record Collector. Diamond Publishing. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  13. "Emily Haines Chart History: Heatseekerst Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  14. "Emily Haines Chart History: Independent Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  15. "Emily Haines Chart History: Canadian Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
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