Just prior to lockdown HAIM had a string of gigs lined up and a festival date at Latitude. Then on comes a virus and cancels them all. Three months later and we have one of the best new albums of the year and what is set to be one of the gigs of 2021 when the band get to Cardiff.
If you love Fleetwood Mac, we can tell you will so get HAIM. Our favourite description of the bands sound will have to be credited to Aunty BEEB. They described the band as “nu-folk-meets-nineties-R&B” and The Guardian said “music that sounds like it was written on a lakeside retreat attended by Stevie Nicks, John Waite and En Vogue.” But for us, HAIM are completely unique, and yes we realise adverbs and nouns shouldn’t really work together, but if HAIM can mix it up, then so can we,
Incredibly, it’s 7 years since the release ‘Days Are Gone’ and their performance at the Glastonbury Festival which really brought them to our attention. In fact, that performance earned them a top ranking in BBC’s Sound of 2013 poll, and subsequently a signing with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation management group.
The three sisters grew up in San Fernando Valley, and began playing covers in a band called Rockinhaim, whose remaining members were their parents. Think Partridge Family with a bit of edge. Once the sisters began writing their own material, they formed the HAIM in 2006 and there was no looking back.
Don’t for one minute think it’s been an easy ride for the three sisters. Along with all the pressures of trying to breakthrough, they seem to have had a career of ridiculous comments and questions from music journalists. Este said recently……
“Do you make the same faces in bed, was a real question I was asked.”
“I see men making faces on stage, and it’s a reaction from feeling the music. I made the mistake early on of looking at comments on live performances, which I don’t do anymore, and all these comments, mostly men, were like, ‘Urgh, ugly, grotesque, get her off the f***ing stage, why is she making those faces?’ I think some men have a problem with seeing a woman enjoying herself. That’s threatening to them.”
The coronavirus pandemic has put added stress on Este. She’s had to self-isolate more than her sisters. As a type-1 diabetic she falls into the at-risk category.
So onto the current album Women in Music Pt III (there aren’t two other parts before you go searching). It was set for release in April, but thanks to Covid we had to wait till the end of June. It is such a good album, and we have to confess it’s been on in the office slightly more often, a maybe a bit louder, over the last few weeks. It was actually named as ‘the most anticipated album of the year.’
Initially the sisters teased the album with the abbreviation WIMPIII on social media, jokingly offering a “free T-shirt” to anybody who could guess what it stood for or who had an answer that made them laugh. We didn’t win one but we’re pleased to see you can buy them on their site. Problem is, how do you choose?
Now it’s out, the reviews have been incredible. The Independent and New York Times critics have named it their album of the year. Out of 22 reviews it weighed in at around a 90 per cent positive rating. We’d add to that too. It’s already top five here and in the States.
We’re really loving the current single SUMMER GIRL, which is a bonus track on the album and the vinyl copy.
If you’re a bit like us in the office you probably go for a bit of old school. If that’s the case HAIM have just the thing with the current album. Cassette, download, CD, Vinyl – the whole set.
We’ll be playing tracks from the album all next week on our radio station SOUTH WALES LIFE. You can download the free App from your regular store.
HAIM are getting to the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff on the 23rd June 2021, and this is one gig you have to see. After a load of cancelled dates and festival appearances, the band are itching to get back on the road, on what is their biggest tour to date.
General sale tickets are here, HAIM.
And finally, the name. We’ve heard it said many different ways, the correct pronunciation is hahy-ihm.