2 weeks to go! Anticipation is building. Fashion is being planned. The Sahara Tent is even being moved (Yes! You can check out this article to hear about the new location.) Most importantly though, music is being listened to. I was about to do my blog post of bands I’ve already blogged about when I had a realization. I’ve never actually written a whole post about Haim. I thought I had because I reviewed their album over the summer. I was mistaken, which means it’s time to finally do that.
Haim, a Los Angeles based band comprised of sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana all with the last name Haim, decided to form a band in 2007. Growing up they were encouraged by their parents to play music. Danielle played guitar and Este played bass. They even joined their parents as a band to play benefits and church gigs while growing up. Danielle and Este also were part of the band Valli Girls, who were featured on the soundtrack to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with their song “Always There in You”.
When Haim initially formed, each sister was involved in their own projects. They stuck to playing local shows because of it and didn’t receive much attention in their early days. Este went to UCLA and graduated in 2010 with a degree in Ethnomusicology. Danielle was noticed by musician Jenny Lewis, formerly of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and was asked to join her touring band. That lead to touring opportunities with The Strokes’ lead singer, Julian Casablancas on his solo tour. She even joined CeeLo Green’s all female backing band for a short time, but ultimately decided she’d rather make music with her sisters.
After playing SXSW and releasing their debut EP Forever in 2012, the group started receiving attention from the music industry. They signed with UK label Polydor Records in June 2012 and from there began making some noise in the industry, in Europe in particular. They toured there that year both on their own and opening for Florence and the Machine. They then returned to SXSW in 2013 as a more experienced and slightly better known act.
2013 was spent working on their first album in between live shows. The sisters played Glastonbury that summer and released the first single, “The Wire”, from their album on July 29th. The album, Days Are Gone, was released on September 30, 2013. The album has since received accolades from media oulets Pitchfork, NME, Consequence of Sound, Spin, and Rolling Stone, among others.
Haim spent the spring of 2014 touring the U.S. As part of that tour, the band made their first Coachella appearance. The end of 2014 featured a few collaborative projects with Fleetwood Mac lead singer Stevie Nicks and Calvin Harris, but until last summer Haim had yet to release new tunes themselves aside from contributions to movie soundtracks from Insurgent of the Divergent series and Mockingjay – Part 1 of the Hunger Games trilogy. They joined their friend Taylor Swift on her 1989 World Tour in the summer of 2015 for a few dates and also received a Grammy nomination that year for Best New Artist. The band spent 2016 hyping upcoming new music by playing a few festivals including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Governors’ Ball, Boston Calling, and Austin City Limits. Then finally last summer on July 7th Haim released their second studio album, Something To Tell You, which I reviewed shortly after its release.
Since finding out about Haim in early 2014, I’ve always thought their music sounds like late 80’s/early 90’s pop rock. Surely enough, they’re considered a pop/indie rock band. All three sisters harmonize in their songs and are proficient in more than one musical instrument, but for live shows sake, you’ll see Este on bass, Danielle on lead guitar and lead vocals, and Alana on rhythm guitar, keyboards, and percussion. Their sound has been compared to Fleetwood Mac. Although I can’t think of a specific band to compare them to I still feel like their sound replicates bands of the 80’s & 90’s. One song that comes to mind that reminds me of Haim is the 1986 hit by Bruce Hornsby “Every Little Kiss”. There are definitely others too so if you can think of any specific songs or bands let me know!
For about 2 years since I discovered them, I desperately wanted to see Haim live. My desire began after I saw them perform on the Coachella 2014 live stream. I actually debated seeing them perform a few weeks after that, but ultimately passed on it because of having a few other conflicting travel obligations. Fortunately, I was able to work Lollapalooza in 2016 and caught them performing there. They were incredible live. Although they’re not a jam band, they do like to jam onstage and add special musical aspects to their live performances. For instance at Lolla, all three sisters played different rhythms on a giant drum at the same time right before their set ended. It was super cool. Their musical ability shines through in their live performances making them one of my top must-see artists this year at Coachella. They’re also one of my favorite bands, which puts them to the top of my list too.
Haim plays Saturday at Coachella. I’d expect a late day set on the Main or Outdoor stage from them, particularly as the sun sets or maybe even as the darkness encompasses the polo fields. If I’m able to, I definitely plan on seeing them, but if I can’t I won’t be that disappointed either because I have tickets to see them this spring. They’re embarking on a world tour that I couldn’t pass up on. If you want to see Haim, which I highly recommend you should, here’s the songs you need to listen to:
- The Wire
- Don’t Save Me
- Want You Back
- Little Of Your Love
- Falling
- My Song 5
- Forever
- Right Now
- Nothing’s Wrong
- Ready For You
The Spentertainic Source 