Haim - Something To Tell You

Rating:

Some things are worth the wait.

'Album' of 'the Week'

It’s fine, Haim. We don’t mind waiting. The sisterly trio’s second album ‘Something To Tell You’ takes the phrase ‘much anticipated’ and pushes it to extremes. With their debut released back in 2012, it’s taken five years for its follow-up to arrive. We even had the false dawn of last summer, where the band were booked in for Reading & Leeds before pulling out because it wasn’t done. They’ve been toying with us for too long now. But this is Haim. Even drawn out expectation isn’t enough to sour something so peppy and packed with joy. Despite those long months of dashed hope, now they’re back it’s as if they’ve never been gone.

From the opening blasts of the hip swinging ‘Little Of Your Love, every strand of Haim’s infectious personality comes streaming through. There’s no lightspeed jump from ‘Days Are Gone’, sure, but then to start messing with that magic formula would be to disrupt a winning recipe. This is summer, there’s a new Haim album - no matter where we find ourselves, those two things go together perfectly.

And actually, that timeless ear for the sun-kissed banger is a skill few others can perfect. Lead single ‘Want You Back’ shows it best - dry ice, hot nights, strong stance - it's sleek, effortless cool with a knowing grin.

In fact, it’s the track they chose to tease ‘Something To Tell You’ with that feels the greatest departure. By rights, you’d expect ‘Right Now’ to open or close a record. Here, it does neither. A slow building, goosebump inducing showstopper, it’s an icy stare down the barrel of anyone who doubts Haim are the real deal. Some things are worth the wait. Stephen Ackroyd