If you’re in the mood for albums bristling with originality, for intriguing new ideas explored to the fullest potential, for melodies to be picked delicately from obscurity then this isn’t the record to stick on. What I mean is, Days Are Gone caters very specifically fans of slick Eighties pop-rock and little else.
Of course – and this does sound moronically obvious – the record is only enjoyable depending on personal tastes. I’ll quickly add a caveat then, that it’s still one of the most enjoyable, likeable records of the year.
Given the hype surrounding the band and the anticipation building around this record, it’s probably risking the wrath of Haim's advocates to say that there’s barely an original idea on the album.
#HAIM DAYS ARE GONE YOUTUBE MAC#
Whilst it’s true that there’s an obvious Mac influence on Days Are Gone – although interestingly the sound is closer to Mirage or Tango in the Night than the best-loved albums – it’s a very minor part of the huge amalgam of Eighties sounds that constitutes the sisters’ eagerly-awaited début album. So that’s my credentials established, yeah? Good. Apparently you’re not a proper music journo unless, when writing about California’s Haim, you simply toss off lazy comparisons to the Seventies' finest 'soft rock cocaine enthusiasts' (cf. By and large, HAIM in the studio is fantastic, but HAIM live is just phenomenal.Right, there’s your obligatory Fleetwood Mac reference. It’s a moment in time for the band where they went a certain way and explored that sound before heading elsewhere in their next album.Īnd I’d definitely agree with another commenter and recommend watching the short Valentine by Paul Thomas Anderson where he captures them in the studio when they were recording the album. So while it’s definitely far from the heavy-hitting indie-rock debut of DAG and the musical masterpiece of WIMPIII, it’s also not necessarily just a transitional album. Still, there are some gems: the title track is sultry and catchy and showcases the Haim sisters’ preference for Uber-rhythmic melodies Walking Away is by far my favorite track on the album and I think it’s a perfect example of the complex layering in terms of production that defines the album and showcases Rostam at his best I Want you Back is just an all-around bop and Right Now has some of the most intimate and personal vocal performance by Danielle. There is also, as one commenter already said, a strong Fleetwood Mac influence (especially ‘80s Fleetwood Mac think of albums like Tango in the Night) so for me it felt less authentic than DAG and more derivative in kind of a kitschy/hokey way.
A lot of the magic in the album derives (I think) less from the Haim sisters’ technical abilities or vocal/harmonic talents and more from Ariel’s then-ultra modern and kinda trendy pop-production methods. STTY isn’t bad, but it certainly stands apart from the rest of their discography. And I think that many of those elements were saliently present in Days Are Gone which is why when that came out I instantly fell in love with the band. Now I have to admit that I’m the same age as the Haim Sisters (same age as Danielle actually) and grew up playing and listening to music that was influenced by older genres like blues, funk, R&B, soul, and of course, rock/rock and roll. Personally, I’ve always had a strange relationship with the album, and if anything, it’s the one that at the time of its release really turned me off HAIM up until WIMPIII came out (which I personally think is a modern masterpiece).
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