FEATURE:
Modern Heroines
PHOTO CREDIT: Drew Le Fore Escriva/The Guardian
putting out an extra edition of Modern Heroines: where I nod to an all-female group/female artists who has the promise to be an icon of the future. This time, I wanted to throw some light on the incredible Haim – and I will finish with a playlist that collects together their very best songs. I am going to source from a few interviews but, right now, I want to nod to their most-recent album. Women in Music Pt. III ranks alongside this year’s absolute best and it has won enormous critical praise. This year has been an exceptional one for music but, to me, I think the very best has come from women. That may sound all-sweeping and vague, but I have been blown away more by female artists than the men. Haim’s Women in Music Pt. III was preceded by three singles that did not appear on the album – Summer Girl, Now I’m in It., and Hallelujah. These are amazing tracks, and the fact they were not on the standard release of the album of 26th June shows that the U.S. trio had ample inspiration! The Californian Haim consist Este Haim (bass guitar and vocals), Danielle Haim (lead vocals, guitar, and drums), and Alana Haim (guitars, keyboards, and vocals), and their third studio album is a masterful work! Their previous album, Something to Tell You, arrived in 2017 and, to many, did not contain the same pop and excitement as their 2013 debut, Days Are Gone.
Even though some noted Women in Music Pt. III contains a few stuffed songs and one too many sonic experiments, the risks that Haim took were worth it.! They maintain an aspect of their summery vibe and brightness, but there is more variation and genre-splicing on their third studio album. The reviews for Women in Music Pt. III are sensational! This is what AllMusic had to say when they assessed the album:
“They sound intimately familiar with depression in all its states, whether they're turning away from the wearying, pointless challenge to prove themselves to men in media and the music industry on "Man from the Magazine," sinking into isolation on the oddly comforting standout "I Know Alone," or emerging from the darkness on "Now I'm in It," a slow-building anthem that could be the album's statement of purpose. Women in Music Pt. III's creative process echoes its feeling of growing agency. For the first time, Danielle took on production duties alongside Rechtshaid and Rostam Batmanglij, and impressionistic touches like the seagulls and alarm clocks that embellish "Up from a Dream" or the way the guitar and saxophones drift through "Los Angeles" echo Batmanglij's dreamy musical memoir Half-Light. HAIM let each song and each mood be exactly what it needs to be, making for a collection of moments that are more interesting and real than if they'd attempted a more uniform sound across the album.
The band's love for the '90s is as strong as ever on the Roxette-like "Another Try" and "3 AM"'s flirty homage to the era's R&B. Their singer/songwriter and folk-pop roots get their due on "Hallelujah" and the gorgeous "Leaning on You," a pair of songs that unite the sisters' voices and struggles in perfect harmony. The lightness HAIM use to combat the heavy things going on in their lives reaches its peak at the album's end: Written in the wake of Rechtshaid's diagnosis, "Summer Girl," taps into memories of the good times to get through the bad ones and borrows the effortlessness of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," but trades that song's aloofness for unconditional love. Sprawling and intimate, breezy and affecting, Women in Music Pt. III is a low-key triumph”.
I do love the originality of Haim’s music, but I also love how they can evoke memories and sounds of different decades in a single album! It is so rewarding and pleasing listening to their music and, after such a strong third album, I feel they will get even better! This is what The Guardian remarked when they reviewed Women in Music Pt. III:
“Melancholy and aimlessness are a change in pace for three sisters known for their vivid Fleetwood Mac homages, taut pop rhythms and arresting demands for clarity. Danielle, bassist Este and guitarist Alana all experienced depression while writing Women in Music Pt III, which they once might have sublimated with euphoric pop. Instead, they translate desolation into richly searching music, putting familiar sounds through their distinctive filter: fluttering G-funk (3am), homages to Walk on the Wild Side (Summer Girl) and Joni Mitchell at her most seething (Man from the Magazine, an acoustic riposte to a leering journalist), and Led Zep bounce (Up From a Dream).
PHOTO CREDIT: Burak Cingi
They subvert pastiche with explosive yet contained production – agitated rhythms, corroded riffs, unexpected celluloid-melt transitions – that suggests Danielle bristling against her own limitations, yet never inhibits a massive chorus. The Steps turns a petulant stomp into an anthem of frustration, while a cathartic scream crests through the hook of All That Ever Mattered. The familiar becomes bracing. The album is also their first real foray into detailed emotional songwriting, Danielle outlining a visceral sense of disconnect from signs in dreams that nobody can read, strangers’ beds and estranged lovers’ clothes. By leaning into the lows, Haim open up bold frontiers”.
Haim have been nominated in the Album of the Year category for next year’s GRAMMY Awards, but they have also had their track, The Steps, nominated in the Best Rock Performance field! This year’s category is all-women – which marks a progressive and positive step. Taking on the likes of Fiona Apple and Brittany Howard, there will be some tough competition indeed! Some have suggested Haim cannot be categorised as ‘Rock’ band and that they are quite lightweight compared with male bands. The GRAMMY nods not only proves they are a bona fide Rock band, but they are joined by some fantastic women. I think some of Rock’s most exciting and interesting music is being made by women at the moment – Jehnny Beth and Anna Calvi are among the biggest names.
I want to drop in my first interview, as it is an illuminating one from late last year – new music was coming from Haim, but we did not know about Women in Music Pt. III. They discussed (with The Guardian) the mixed reaction to their second album; we also learned about their earlier life and inspirations, in addition to how they were perceived as not being Rock enough by some radio stations:
“Before they started writing songs, Haim were obsessed with LA rock folklore, reading books about Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills and Nash, and forensically studying episodes of VH1’s Behind the Music. When people started taking interest in their own band – before topping 2013’s BBC Sound Of... poll, they would often play covers with their parents, under the name Rockinhaim – they felt prepared after an adolescence imbued in the history of California music.
“The Valley is still not cool but it’s such a big part of who we are, we ride or die for it,” says Este as we pull up round the corner from their family home. “Growing up, we were surrounded by these virtuoso musicians; not the actual stars who lived in Beverly Hills or wherever you get the actual stars, but like the back-up guitarist for Pink Floyd or a session player for Pat Benatar; it was unpretentious, and these people would show up at our house and want to jam.”
That early musical proficiency and confidence around older wizened rockers quickly defined Haim as artists. Emerging at a time when musicians tend to be introverted, electronic and serious (and guitar music has been declared dead so many times the coroner is hoarse) they have bucked every trend: a band of brash, accomplished female musicians playing classic rock while gaining a reputation as professional goofs, whether that’s with their choreographed dance-routine tour announcements or photobombing Liam Payne at the Brit awards.
“I mean,” Danielle continues, “there was definitely a time when we wanted to be on the rock stations, and they were saying that we weren’t rock enough, which felt like a big slap in the face, especially when they play so many bands that make the same shit as us but they’re men and they play them.”
“What rock bands don’t understand about us, is that we make fun of ourselves; we love to have fun but sometimes that makes people think we don’t take music seriously,” says Alana as the sisters start to rile each other up.
“Yeah! I can go toe-to-toe with any male rock band and blow them out of the water,” shouts Este”.
NME spoke with Haim when they were promoting Women in Music Pt. III, and there is fascinating revelation regarding some personal struggles they have been through in addition to the way they have evolved as a unit through the years. I want to bring in a couple of segments from the interview: one which notes how, despite all they have been through, there is optimism in their latest album; another nods at the ongoing gender imbalance at festivals and how Haim are a prime example of the wonderful music being made by women – I should really say ‘womxn’ as a mark of respect and inclusion:
“There are moments of optimism peppered throughout the album, though. If ‘I Know Alone’ was hiding your head in your hands, ‘I’ve Been Down’ is fighting your way out of the fog of depression with your head held high. “It was more…” Danielle begins, before starting to half-sing while punching imaginary demons out of the way: “‘I’m gonna get this out of this, get the fuck out of my way!’”
‘Leaning on You’, a lovely folk moment, sums up the tight bond that the three sisters share. Over jangling ‘70s guitars, the sisters sing in tight-knit harmonies with lyrics that’ll give you warm fuzzies: “You take care of us when I make it tough” and “So won’t you let me know / If I’m not alone / Leaning on you”.
With headlining festivals comes the discussion of gender balanced line-ups. British bands like Foals and The 1975 have said that they want to only play festivals with equal representation. Is it as much of a conversation in the US?
“I mean, it’s definitely one that we’ve been having with our agents,” answers Danielle. “It feels kind of like a slap in the face. I’m gonna mince who it was, but I saw some quote from a festival booker that was like: ‘There’s just not enough women.’ And it’s like, what are you fucking talking about?”
Haim have consistently lifted up other womxn in the music industry. Their Sister Sister Sister tour in support of ‘Something To Tell You’ featured only female support acts, bringing Lizzo, Maggie Rogers and Grace Carter on the road with them. In 2018, Haim fired their booking agent after discovering a male band at the same level on the line-up was getting paid 10 times more than what they were. Given that they’re so outspoken, would they ever consider including inclusivity riders in their contracts?
“I mean… it’s like all these festivals, it shouldn’t even be a question,” Alana says. “Why is it even a thing? Book women. Just do it.”
“It really is kind of laughable, right? That it’s even a thing. It’s crazy. I think women make the best rock music,” Este adds. “There, I said it!”
I want to bring in one more interview, as I feel it is important to get some information and words from Haim themselves - just to show what they are about and why they are so awesome.
PHOTO CREDIT: Taylor Hill/Getty Images
It has been a year of ups and downs for them – like everyone -, but when Haim spoke to Variety they talked about one of the best thing about their music videos (except for ones filmed during the pandemic): the simplicity of them walking the streets singing along to their songs:
“Fans who didn’t make it to the shows were transfixed by music videos from a group that’s made the best use of them by anyone since the golden age of OK Go. No Rube Goldbergian contraptions or stop-motion gimmicks are necessary, though, to pique interest in the Haim sisters: Their best videos, historically, have had them walking, whether it was the “Want You Back” clip in which they stroll down a strangely deserted Ventura Boulevard at the magic hour, or the recent Anderson-directed “Summer Girl” that comically depicts the liberating peeling off of endless layers of clothing while they stroll past L.A. landmarks like the New Beverly Cinema, Bookstar in Studio City or, of course, Canter’s (site of their first backroom gig, where they were paid in matzo ball soup).
“Honestly, I never thought that a thing that I do every day — walk — would make such an impact on people, but I guess we’re super good at walking,” deadpans Alana. “And we’re from Los Angeles, so that’s an oxymoron. No one does that here — songs have been written about such things,” she says (alluding to Missing Persons’ KROQ classic “Walking in L.A.”). Thanks to Haim, there may be a whole flyover nation that has mistakenly come to think of Los Angeles as a pedestrian town.
I alluded to the fact that Women in Music Pt. III was born out of some bleak times; we learn more about the struggles and how, despite them, the sisters have created some great, uplifting music:
“Many of these songs were born out of a dark time that befell all three women after they returned from their last tour in 2018. Danielle’s boyfriend and the group’s co-producer, Ariel Rechtshaid, was fighting cancer. Este continued to grapple with her long-standing Type 1 diabetes. And Alana had lost one of her best friends in a car accident immediately before going out on tour, something she hadn’t processed and grieved until coming off the road. All were dealing with a postpartum, post-tour letdown that allowed them their first downtime since the group started. These are the sorts of circumstances that led to lines like: “It takes all that I got not to f–k this up, so let me know if I’m not alone.”
“We’re self-aware enough to know that sometimes we’re not the best at communicating,” says Este. “It’s this weird dichotomy that we tend to tell each other everything, and then wear the emotions of each other. So when one of us is feeling glum or blue, the other two tend to join that person in their loneliness. If I know that, do I really want to divulge how I’m feeling, if I know that my family is going to feel that way too? For me, at least, it was a big push and pull: I wanted to be able to share my experience, but was also conscious that my sisters were not feeling in the best headspace. We are so close, but we still felt lonely and isolated at the same time.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Elizabeth Weinberg for The New York Times
Yet when it came to recording, joy returned in a big way. Danielle says, “It was the most fun we’ve had making an album, and the most spontaneously that we’ve ever made music. This is my favorite album we’ve made, and I hope that people can hear that confidence. We wrote a lot of these songs in this dark place, but we had this lightness making the recorded music — I mean, it’s bizarre”.
I do think that Haim are going to be future legends and, in such a great year for music, they have put out one of the very best albums. With some of the best Rock music being made by women, I feel bands like Haim will lead a charge when it comes to festival line-ups adopting a more gender-balanced line-up. Above all, Haim are helping make the genre more eclectic and emotionally rich. I feel that, on future albums, Haim will continue to hone and improve. They are a remarkable force and, with such a close bond existing between the sisters, I feel they will be together for decades more to come! If you have not heard the music of Haim then do investigate their music and throw some love their way. I have put a playlist in at the bottom of this feature to highlight the power and incredible music…
OF the amazing Haim.