HAIM are back after four years with their second album, but is it really worth being labelled as Something To Tell You about?…
The trio of sisters, Este, Danielle and Alana, collectively form HAIM, and refute the term girl-band. They are a band, they are girls, but far from the standard definition (think Atomic Kitten etc) they are all talented instrumentalists in their own right, and write their own material. Blending RnB with more contemporary pop, how will the LA sorority fare with the new album?
Want You Back takes us in as the first track – the girls are back in town! From the outset there’s no doubt that the album is impeccably produced. The verses are slow with plenty of emphasis on the lyrics over everything else. Strummed guitar and downright funky bass set an underscore to the harmonies the sisters weave over one another. The chorus allows a little more ‘summer hit’ production to take over with some electronic samples and hooks to dance in and around the existing, more natural instruments.
Little Of Your Love and Kept Me Crying both contain the production style that immediately shows off their RnB influence. The songwriting is reminiscent of someone such as Meghan Trainor, who has in turn, written for Beyonce, a stated influence of the band. With a brazen ‘big band’ soundtrack in the background with thumping drums and sampled brass it feels like it was written for the sole purpose of being cheery enough to carry you right through the summer, if it stays sunny anyway. Ready For You and Walking Away are in a similar RnB influenced vein, that sound as though they could have come straight off a Justin Bieber tracklist. There’s a three way vocal harmony as expected from the trio and electronic beats over reverbed vocals in the verse which lurches into a hook-driven chorus that throws some equally reverbed, shimmery guitar in the former, but sadly just the electronics remain by the time the theme has carried to the latter of the two.
So on to the title track of the album, Something To Tell You, and actually, the second track, Nothing’s Wrong. They’re the same, or at least are similar enough for it to be eerie. I’ll clear it by simply stating that they are both equally well-produced pop songs, you won’t be offended, like the rest of the album from the song being played. But they’re in the same key, with the same chords and very similar subject matter, once again, it’s weird.
In the past, the band has been compared to the legendary Fleetwood Mac, a lofty height to reach indeed, with You Never Knew, you can start to see where this comparison could’ve come from. The slightly more natural approach to the melody in this track with minimal electronics and softer emphasis on the harmonies of the three vocalists and more focus on lead vocalist Danielle’s voice and (very) slightly deeper subject matter it has some similarities to the legends. HAIM however, have reacted ‘squeamishly’ when compared to Fleetwood Mac, insisting they are not an influence, which considering that You Never Knew is a simple shadow to the formers work, is probably for the best.
One track that does stand out amongst the polished pop however, is the slightly dustier Found It In Silence. The track has a more country ‘railroad’ drumline that keeps a pacing beat throughout. The verse vocals are closer to a LeAnn Rimes style belted spoken word (if again, no true justice to the master) with sets of orchestral strings keeping time with the drums to underline the vocal. With a break in pace with a melodic, electronic-touched breakdown where the girl’s harmonies really come into play, the song is very well structured.
The album is led out by two slightly more minimalist and, in a sense, more ominous, tracks – Right Now and Night So Long. The main bassline is set to a minor key with the electronic and guitar working their way between different moods and tones as the songs both progress. Both songs are very different to the rest of the album, and considering the positivity of all the predecessors, feel a little misplaced.
Overall the album seems to be exactly what it wanted to be. A positive, albeit depthless, summery pop album. Providing that the weather holds out for the most part, it should happily carry you through until all the festivals are over and school is back in season. But it doesn’t strike me as a real ‘sit down and listen to it’ album, even if I had to.
Author: Steve, Southgate store
