Metric’s Emily Haines Branches into Beauty with a Fragrance
Though not really a fan of fragrance, Emily Haines received samples in her dressing room from natural brand House of Matriarch while on a tour stop in Seattle with her band Metric. Entranced by the smell of these non-synthetic versions and how they made her feel, the Toronto singer eventually “worked up the nerve” to ask brand founder Christi Meshell about developing a scent of her own. “Turns out, Christi is as fond of collaborations as I am, and in no time, we were delving into possibilities,” says Haines.
Guided by Meshell, Haines chose a heady base of amber, Moroccan rose and East Indian sandalwood with top notes of saffron, narcissus and Gandhi root. Called Siren, the fragrance shares its name with a track on Choir of the Mind, the second album under Haines’s solo project Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, and is meant to be genderless.
Haines also created Dark Forest, a companion incense that she admits she added out of self-interest—to change her dressing room into a place where she can relax. “Even at the most prestigious venues, this task is not unlike trying to turn a pumpkin into a chariot,” she says. “I want to be transported as quickly as possible, and lighting this is an immediate fix.”
Both items were sold during the Choir of the Mind tour last December, but are back for a limited run and can be found here.
