Haim- 'Something To Tell You' Album Review

Haim- ‘Something To Tell You’

Way back in 2013, American all-girl trio Haim seemingly emerged from nowhere to soar to indie queens after the release of their debut album ‘Days Are Gone’. After extensively touring and marketing this album, the band took a well-needed rest and recorded their follow up record. 4 years later and ‘Something To Tell You’ is here.

From first listen of this record, the ongoing themes are clear. Consistent topics of love, betrayal and longing are weaved seamlessly into this 11 song long album. Now, the general cliché surrounding a band’s follow up to a successful debut album is overcoming that difficult second album syndrome and whilst this can still be relative occasionally in 2017, this particular album feels more of a stand-alone effort than a sequel for Haim. An attempt by the band to dismay their critics and show them that they can still incorporate the same retro pop-rock sound that made them so successful whilst varying it to a degree in order to create a new sound.  

This is extremely apparent on track ‘You Never Knew’, a seemingly Stevie Nicks inspired track that gleefully invites the disco ball to descend onto the dancefloor via its funky, retro sound. The counteract between the acoustic guitar and the synth on this song make it one of my favourites of this record. Singles ‘Want You Back’ and ‘Little of Your Love’ are typical Haim, fast paced, echoing harmony based track that are extremely infectious and almost instantly have you feeling good.

Yet, despite ‘Something To Tell You’s good points, there are some poor moments on this 42 minute long record. The orchestral beginning to ‘Found it in Silence’ is cringeworthingly reminiscent of Viva La Vida, whilst the less said about ‘Nothing’s Wrong’ the better. There also seem to be a number of filler tracks on this record, something that you do not expect after waiting 4 years for an album. ‘Walking Away’ is definitely guilty of this charge with its attempt to sound like an early 2000s RnB track failing miserably.

Overall, it feels to me that Haim have not used this long break to the best of their advantage. They have clearly matured in terms of feeling more confident in themselves to allow experimentation on their tracks; however the levels of risk that they are taking on some of these tracks are simply unnecessary and dire. But, on the other hand, if they had stuck to the same formula from their debut album then they would have been criticised, so I guess this attempt to differentiate has to be applauded to an extent. It just seems to me that this album may be forgotten about in a relatively short space of time.

Overall Rating- 7/10

Fave Tracks- ‘Want You Back’, ‘Little of Your Love’, ‘You Never Knew’, ‘Right Now’, ‘Ready For You’

Least Fave Tracks- ‘Nothing’s Wrong’, ‘Walking Away’, ‘Found it in Silence’