LA sensation the Haim sisters are finally back with their new record, Something To Tell You, and it has proven that these three girls are not just a one hit wonder: they've been incredibly busy in producing a tightly packed, slick, follow-up album which rivals even that of their first hit release.
From the offset the sound is familiar, containing the unmistakable Haim factor, yet simultaneously holding a sense of inherent uniqueness that we haven’t quite seen from the trio yet. ‘Want You Back’ acts as a beautiful reintroduction through its popping bass licks, bouncy synth and reunion with singer-guitarist Danielle Haim’s simply exquisite voice. The track is pure infectious pop and is riddled with throwback traits that made Haim such a hyped name a few years back. The equally minimalistic feel only emphasises Danielle's vocals to an entire other level as her angelic tones make the track flourish into an all around colossal sound, no track could be more suited as an opening number for a band of this magnitude.
The strong start only continues to roll throughout the entire album and the retro 90s vibes keep coming with the west coast feeling, ‘Nothing’s Wrong’. Not a single track on the record feels out of place and each holds enough of a common touch with the others to blend smoothly yet holds quirks which certainly set it out from the remaining songs.
Something To Tell You has certainly been tailored to suit a festival crowd and ‘Ready For You’ as well as the self-titled ‘Something To Tell You’ feel like tracks which were purely designed to be played to the masses across a muddy field in the English countryside. The continuation of the heavy pop injects movement into the bones and the trio’s harmonies throughout the songs are simply otherworldly. Aspects of a range of other artist influences can be seen within each song on the record, some holding underlaying traces with fellow indie-pop stars, The 1975, which I can see many either completely falling for or repulsing at but nonetheless, these aspects are only flickers of Haim’s collective sound, which overall feels fresh, bouncy and just the thing to get your summer well under way.
The level of throwback to the album keeps each track full to the brim of nostalgia of a past adolescence and, whilst the band do sometimes play a tad heavily on a teenage summer romance-heartbreak facade, the production behind each song has been done with such an immense level of care and talent that it is easy to overlook this.
For myself, the album is going to be a primetime summer staple and thrives in its more upbeat numbers such as ‘Little Of Your Love’ which holds a resemblance to one of Paramore’s newest tracks, but contains some of the strongest instrumental licks I've come across in a while. The vivacious track is laced with some truly intriguing backing solo work which demonstrates just what Haim are all about. All this being said, slower numbers like ‘Night So Long’ do not slack and, if anything, showcase this band’s symbiotic talents at their fullest. The vast emptiness of the track builds to a flood of pristine harmonies which go quite unparalleled by even the most soulful of artists around today. Likewise, the sombre pacing acts as a brilliant benchmark for the other tunes to bounce of off and really adds that little bit more diversity that the album needed to keep interesting throughout.
Something To Tell You has proven not only that Haim are one of the most exciting groups around today but also that they still have a great amount to share with the world. So many bands fail on their follow up records, but these sisters have managed to beautifully continue to find their feet all whilst treasuring the aspects which made them such a big name to begin with. 2013 may have been the year that Haim blew up into the public domain, however four years on it is clear that these girls are here to stay and that going through the rest of 2017 will definitely be another huge one for Haim.
Ben Walker
Website: haimtheband.com
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