Whilst the world starts to wake up to the realisation that EDM is actually really shit, there seems to be a great new wave of music starting to seep through the cracks. Sure, it’s taken a while to get there, but HAIM’s Days Are Gone (the title actually reflecting the length of time to get this thing out!), is one of those pure gems that will fail to be ignored, regardless of your taste in music.
This sisterly trio aren’t like other family bands; they’re fairly normal in look so no USP there (Hanson had their long-haired-kid-pop to set them apart), there’s nothing overtly ostentatious about them (well, not that it seems anyhow). The one thing that DOES differentiate them though is their strive for perfection, probably why it’s taken such a long time for Days Are Gone to get out there.
It seems so long since the first time we laid ears on debut Falling (admittedly it was Duke Dumont’s remix that brought us to HAIM-land), but even so, it’s a cracking track, and therefore apt (and important) to have this as their album-opener. Falling became an anthem in its own right over the summer; it’s the track everyone wanted to hear at the festivals – speaking to various folk at Glastonbury during their Park Stage performance, unfortunately no-one cared about their other music; they just wanted Falling. That’s probably why it was a mid-set performance; get that one out the way so people can stick around if they really wanted to hear more. Everyone stuck around.
Anyhow, back to the now. Yes, Falling opens Days Are Gone, and it just works.
The group’s fusion of soft-rock/indie thrown in with some poppy electro just seems to be such a wonderful concoction. In fact, fuck it, there’s so much cross-genre fusion that you just can’t bucket Days Are Gone onto one shelf – is it 70s/80s rock? Yes. A bit of electro? Yep. What about late-90s indie? Oh yeh, that too.
None seems more present than that of current single The Wire. Big drums aid its big, bastard, power-ballad homage. I quite like that the 80s seem to be coming back in a smarter, more polished way. However I moreso quite like the fact that fourth track If I Could Change Your Mind actually exists. IT’S SO GOOD! Listening to it casts you back to the 80s, the big soundtracks to those cheesy movies; you could be mistaken thinking you’re currently watching the end credits to a ‘3 Men & A Baby’-type flick when listening to this. BUT IT’S STILL SO CURRENT!
Wonderful!
Speaking of wonderful, Honey & I shows no signs of quality-reduction…. some albums fall foul of starting to wane the further they go in. Not here, no siree. In fairness, the fact that Honey & I is probably the weakest track on the album shows you how superb this debut actually is.
It’s the title track that’s a massive standout though. Co-written by Jessie Ware (hurrah for us Brits), Days Are Gone is like The Wire on crack. The track welcomes Alana Haim taking a step to the forefront of vocal duties (opposed to Danielle who seems to take the brunt of the LP). The whole album is giving huge props on the sheer talent of these girls; the fact they can chop and change in their arrangement and still sound fucking brilliant is not an easy feat.
The angry My Song 5, undertoned with a slight dubstep meets crazy guitar riffs, is an interesting addition, and actually, allows the listener a comfortable break from what they’ve been hearing for the past 30 minutes. Listening instantly harked back to En Vogue’s Free Your Mind. Funnily enough, a quick web search shows that The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis thought the same… (we thought of it first though Alexis, we’re not copying you!)
Go Slow follows, a slightly uplifting ballad that brings you slowly back to HAIM-land. Full of synths and (we’re sure) an Octopad taking centre-stage here. With the volume low, you could be forgiven in thinking it’s one of those ‘driving home from a night out’ moments; that’s no bad thing, we all need tracks like that in our lives whether we care to admit it or not.
The girls close on Running If You Call My Name, and it’s wallop back to the 80s sound. Drums aplenty, its a strong end to the album.
The girls have created a clear path on Days Are Gone. It’s a fully-accomplished debut, up there with the best in fairness; at just under 45 minutes it’s by no means a long album but it gives you just the dose you need to crave that desire of buying the concert tickets, the merchandise, and wanting a follow-up. Which leave you wondering as to whether a sequel is already in the works – there’s no way the girls have whittled down to just 11 tracks in the years they’ve been formed. Unless they have – the album is THAT polished and THAT brilliant that maybe they’ve thrown everything else onto the scrapheap.
Who cares, this is a brilliant piece of music. Must go now…. Falling‘s anthems are calling my name again.
Days Are Gone is set for release on 30th September; hit the iTunes button below to preorder:
