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FEATURE
MUSIC
The Master, There Will Be Blood
). Fans got an
insight into formerly unseen side of the band:
they're deep in the song, barely aware of the
camera, no crowds, no noise.
Los Angeles is a city that can be hard
to understand: blindingly commercial and
shamelessly glitzy to outsiders, its seemingly
endless freeways and suburbs blasted by the
sun, traversed only by car. But to the natives,
it’s home – a place they know intuitively.
Haim grew up in LA, and it’s strange dislocation
and eclectic atmosphere have shaped them as
people, and as musicians. When they got off
the road after years of relentless touring, after
faceless hotel rooms in transient towns became
'home', the band landed back in the US with
nowhere to live.
Their parental home in LA's San Fernando
Valley provided a respite from the twilight reality
of the road. "After everything we had done, it
felt nice to be back—to go home and go to my
childhood room,” says Danielle. “We rehearsed
there every day for seven or eight years,
dreaming of playing
Saturday Night Live
, so to
go back there now and is all very surreal.” The
siblings bunkered down at chez Haim for several
months, re-discovering the songwriting process
, and in turn discovering new nuances in their
musical relationship. The game-changer came
unexpectedly , with a film offer. “It was like a
homework assignment,” says Alana, “and that
kick-started a song called
Little of Your Love.
It
felt like ‘hey, we still know how to do this! We
finally got the ball rolling.” Once that one was
done, confirms Danielle, “it kind of opened
up the floodgates,” They commenced tracking
the songs that became
Something to Tell You
with producer Rechtshaid (Adele, Beyonce, and
Usher), with additional production from Vampire
Weekend’s Rostam Batamanglij.
With Splendour in the Grass now a well-
established Australian festival staple , and a
regular stop on the global tour circuit for bands
launching new albums, Haim are making
a highly anticipated appearance this year.
They love the Australian festival experience,
having played Laneway in 2014., but having
graced stages from Coachella to Bonnaroo,
Glastonbury, to T in the Park, they are now
large scale festival veterans. Although the
emphasis on the music on
Something to Tell
You
expresses a great deal of finesse and
elegance, Haim are a harder, more confronting
proposition live, and a lot of that comes from
Danielle Haim’s dirtier-than-you-expect guitar
slinging. "We wanted songs that would be fun
to play live and that people can dance to,” says
Danielle. “We love having that big dance party
feel at our shows.” There's an inkling of this in
the
Right Now
clip, but her restrained power
can also be heard on
Nothing's Wrong
and
You Never Knew,
the latter being an effortless,
breezy and reflective songwriting collaboration
with Atlanta-born, UK-raised Devonte Hynes of
The Test Icicles, Lightspeed Champion and now
Blood Orange. The track sums up this album in
a way: crafted harmonies with sneaky melodies
and easy spaces, all permeated by beautiful
singing and playing.
Haim arrive with not only a new album,
but a whole new attitude. They're no longer
feeling their way, the learning curve is now
We’re really feeling like strong women right now. Bosses of our
own fate, making our own music, not taking sh*t from anybody,
writing every word, every chord and every song.
“Sorry, are we rolling? I was waiting for ‘action!’ says Alana Haim, off-camera
before Paul Thomas ‘
Boogie Nights
’ Anderson’s intimate, stylish clip for
Right Now
even begins. The clip captures the band playing live on a studio set with no crowd,
and is surprisingly candid, the whole tableau lovingly bathed in blue. Anderson
captures the unguarded moments and leaves them in: the odd facial expression,
the band loving the fun of banging on drums in fact, enigmatic drummer Dash
Hutton remains off camera, a man often heard but rarely seen. “That’s how you
f-ing do it’ announce the band, at the end of the video.
Something
to Tell
You
Something to Tell You
by HAIM
is out now via Universal Music.
Haim play Splendour in the Grass, North
Byron Parklands Friday July 21. Sideshow
at Enmore Theatre Sydney July 20.
Right Now
Vocals are the star here, front and centre.
Minimal instrumentation that suddenly crashes
like a wave on your head, you won’t get the
melody out of your ears all day.
Ready for You
Squeaky clean nu Philly-soul, straight off the
dancefloor circa 1976 with harmonies you’ll die
for: if Michael Jackson had released this in the
early ’00s, it might have resurrected his career.
A Little of Your Love
Exhilarating electro candy with Big Rock
Drums that echo like it’s 1985 and a sneaky
harmonies over candy keys that rush along, as
they sing ‘you’re just another recovering heart.’
long completed. They're road hardened, and if
not exactly ready to rock, they're 100% ready
to roll. “We’re really feeling like strong women
right now,” says Danielle. “Bosses of our own
fate, making our own music, not taking sh*t
from anybody, writing every word, every chord
and every song. “
The
Highlights
Right Now with P.T Anderson