For those of you unfamiliar, allow me to introduce you to the coolest band around: HAIM. The California natives — Este (35), Danielle (32), and Alana (29) Haim — are three sisters in a pop-rock band that started their music career together in 2012.
HAIM has released three studio albums to date. Their first two — titled Days are Gone (2013) and Something to Tell You (2017) — both blazed a trail for the band’s artistic success. Their third and most recent record was no different. Women in Music Pt. III (2020), as the title suggests, offers a unique and fresh perspective of what it means to be a woman in the music industry. Spanning 13 songs start to finish (with three bonus tracks), HAIM has created anthems for today’s multi-faceted women, encapsulating the notion that you can be independent, fearless, confident and powerful while also being vulnerable, flawed, delicate, and sensitive.
“Man from the Magazine”, a song from Women in Music Pt. III, expresses a theme that I think resonates with most women today. The track explores the over-sexualization of women and girls in the entertainment industry, with the sisters reflecting on their own experiences.
“Man from the magazine, what did you say?
Do you make the same faces in bed?
Hey man, what kind of question is that?”
Another issue presented in the song is the idea that a woman can’t do anything to satisfy the societal male-gaze . One lyric desperately asks, “Oh, what’s left to prove?”
In the past year, the group has collaborated with many artists, most notably their long-time friend, Taylor Swift (a collab made in heaven!). The Haim sisters were first featured on Swift’s song “no body, no crime,” in which the song’s main character shares the namesake of Este Haim. Returning the favor in February 2021, Taylor Swift was then featured on the band’s single “Gasoline.”
Receiving nominations for Album of the Year (Women in Music Pt. III) as well as Best Rock Performance for their single “The Steps” at the 2021 Grammy Awards, HAIM is a bold feminine energy in the largely male-dominated world of rock music.
Taking inspiration from yesterday’s female icons, the band has never been shy about their long-lasting love for musician Joni Mitchell and the impact Mitchell’s music has had on their childhood and adulthood.
HAIM’s feminine fierceness could be compared to the likes of a Joan Jett or Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac.
The Gen-Z revival of rock has been long awaited, with music legends such as Billy Idol, Joan Jett, and Stevie Nicks collaborating with pop stars, such as Miley Cyrus, to revisit their classic hits of the past. Needless to say, we are on the precipice of a new generation of rock, and the three Haim sisters are standing at the forefront of this tidal wave.
To play us out, in the words of HAIM’s promotional photo for Women in Music pt. III, “Women make the best rock music!”
And frankly, I couldn’t agree more.
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