Artist Bio

Since making their debut with 2013’s widely praised Days Are Gone, HAIM have embraced an undeniable abandon in their songwriting and sound, boldly following their intuition to its most fascinating outcome. On the strength of their sophisticated musicality and singular sonic vision, the Southern California-bred sister trio have collaborated with artists as eclectic as Stevie Nicks and Calvin Harris, Dirty Projectors and Vampire Weekend, sold out shows at iconic venues Los Angeles’ Greek Theater and multiple nights at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, and embedded their songs with elements of everything from folk to hip-hop to power-pop. With their third album Women In Music Pt. III, HAIM now bring even greater imagination to their artistry, turning out some of their most fiercely original material to date.Co-produced by Danielle and two of HAIM’s longtime collaborators-Grammy Award-winning producer Ariel Rechtshaid (Adele, Blood Orange, Carly Rae Jepsen) and Rostam Batmanglij (Charli XCX, Solange, FrankOcean)-Women In Music Pt. III finds the band deliberately adopting a no-holds-barred approach to each track’s arrangement and atmosphere. “We were just experimenting and being truly fearless about making music that feels good to us,” says Alana. “Because of that, the songs ended up blossoming in ways we never would’ve expected.” So while certain signature qualities endure in their new output-the trio’s radiant harmonies, complex yet infectious melodies, rhythms constructed with skilled ingenuity-Women In Music Pt. III never lets up in its rule-bending creativity. “We used instruments we’d never used before, we took inspiration from music we’d never really tapped into,” says Danielle. “It was us falling head over heels into something completely new and risky, and it’s all felt really beautiful and true to who we are.” As Danielle explains, the title to Women in Music Pt. III first emerged in a dream. “I kept seeing this women-in-music motif everywhere, like on a magazine and a billboard and an invitation to an event, and I woke up hysterically laughing,” she says. “I told my sisters and they started laughing too, and it seemed like a perfect fit for the record title.” But despite its playful undertones, the title serves a deeper purpose for HAIM. “I think naming the album that helped us reclaim our relationship with a term that gets thrown around so much,” says Alana. And as Women in Music Pt. III unfolds with an uncontainable sound, the title essentially offers a bit of commentary on the notion that female-driven rock music constitutes a genre in itself. One of the first songs written for Women in Music Pt. III, the already-iconic lead track “Summer Girl” acted as a catalyst for the kinetic sense of freedom that guided the album-making process. With its jazzy groove, baritone sax riffs, and tender background vocals-each lovingly referencing Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”-the song’s breezy sonic palette beautifully contrasts with its melancholy undercurrent. “I started ‘Summer Girl’ around the time when my boyfriend was having some health issues,” says Danielle. “We were on tour when that was happening, and whenever I checked in with him I tried to be some kind of sunshine or light-something to brighten his day when he was feeling dark.” On tracks like “TheSteps,” Women in Music Pt. III veers into a far more mercurial mood, often giving way to a glorious chaos. Built on galvanizing guitar work and self-possessed lyrics (e.g., “You can’t feel me, I’m lightning”), “The Steps” echoes the raw catharsis that fueled its creation. “We were really angry that day, and we just needed to scream and get out all the emotion in our bodies,” says Alana. One of HAIM’s heaviest songs yet, “The Steps” also marks a certain breakthrough in its extravagant but exacting use of guitar. “When we first started out, it felt difficult sometimes to make the guitar sound really fresh,” says Danielle. “But with this album, we sort of fell in love with playing guitar again, and I think you can really hear that in the songs.” Throughout Women in Music Pt. III, HAIM telegraph an untamed joy even as they explore the darkest parts of their psyche, an outpouring informed by adding a stream-of-consciousness element to their lyric-writing. “We’re talking about a lot of things we haven’t talked about on other records, and it’s definitely a
rollercoaster of emotions,” says Alana. “We really love writing stuff that’s super-heavy but putting a big dance beat behind it.” On “I Know Alone,” for instance, the band sheds light on the overwhelming loneliness that invariably creeps in after returning home from the road. “It’s something we’ve gone through so many times, and I think we’re finally at a place where we understand that there’s always going to be this post-tour depression,” says Este. “That song is us saying, ‘I know loneliness, and I know that it will dissipate eventually,’ even though when you’re going through it feels like it might never end.” One of the album’s most riveting moments, “I Know Alone” replicates that emotional unrest in a wild collage of warped vocal samples and 808 beats, wobbly cello notes and stark acoustic guitar. “That’s one of the things that makes us so excited in the studio-mixing organic and inorganic sounds, and making something new out of it,” Alana points out. Another profoundly revealing track, the sparse and spellbinding “Man from the Magazine” confronts some of the most infuriating situations that HAIM have faced during their lifespan as a band. “The first verse goes back to an interview we did when we were just coming up, where this journalist was obsessed with the faces Este makes on stage,” says Danielle. “At one point he asked her, ‘Do you make those same faces in bed?’ We all felt so uncomfortable, but didn’t know what to do about it.” Este adds: “For me, being onstage is the only time I really get to show the joy I feel when I’m playing. There have been times in the past where I thought, ‘Maybe I should try to rein it in a little’-but in the end I decided I’m going to do what I want to do, and play the way I want to play. I’m never going to let anyone to take the shine off something that I truly love doing.” While “Man from the Magazine” speaks directly to specific grievances (including the often-maddening experience of guitar-shopping while female), the album ultimately makes a grander statement against small-mindedness in the media and music world. “Over the years we’ve dealt with people not really knowing what to do with us, or what box to put us in,” says Danielle. “We’ve had people say that, because we dance in our videos, it seems like we don’t actually play our instruments-when so many other dude bands have maybe one shot of them miming playing their instruments, and no one ever questions them.” In the end, Women in Music Pt. III arrives as a powerful declaration of the band’s indomitability, a quality perfectly encapsulated by Danielle: “We’re a rock band first and foremost, and we’re going to keep making rock music forever.” In reflecting on the renewed confidence they brought to the making of Women in Music Pt. III, HAIM point to recent shifts in the musical climate. “There were times in the past where we put up with a lot of shit because of being women in this industry, but thankfully now there’s a conversation about all that, and maybe some change is starting to happen,” says Alana. And as they look toward the next chapter of their career, the band feels more self-assured than ever, a strength that’s reinforced by their rarefied connection. “As a unit we’ve always been so strong, but now we’re all really discovering our power as individuals,” says Alana. “It takes a long time to get to the place of owning your power like that-but once you do, it’s so liberating. I think on this record we’ve all collectively realized how freeing it is to say, ‘Fuck it’ and truly mean it.”

Related to HAIM