(One of the earlier tunes that brought me to their music)
This album starts off with the gigantic “Want You Back”. Now, going into this album I knew that the ladies were going for a much bigger sound, but these instrumentals are completely huge compared to anything they’ve touched so far. However, what makes this track even better is how HAIM haven’t give up a single inch of their sharp songwriting. Between these verses and seriously catchy hook, this is just a damn fine pop tune. There are still a ton of the same elements that showed up on the trios debut, such as the funky licks and the almost classic approach to songwriting. But it’s just so much of a grander scale, and nothing shockingly comes off seriously overblown. It’s a wonderful intro that brings us up to speed with HAIM wonderfully. Even as far as vocals go, HAIM sound refreshed and ready to roll. So far, everything about this album points in a GREAT direction. Up next, HAIM bring us “Nothing’s Wrong”, and this is a track that I feel like HAIM pulls out especially well. Obviously the ladies played their own instruments on their debut, but it occasionally didn’t come off as defined as it could. This track however, really makes them sound like a band opposed to pop stars, which is something we could occasionally forget on their debut. Also, they’re seriously bring in much more of a rock vibe, something that so far has been exclusive to their live shows. The sharp pop songwriting however does stick around, and boy is it ever good. “Nothing’s Wrong” is just so damn catchy, and the very 80’s synths are a seriously nice touch as well. There’s almost a Fleetwood Mac vibe to this, specifically their 80s output, and that’s not a bad thing at all. Then we have “Little of Your Love”, which comes completely out of nowhere, and it’s something that I really didn’t expect to hear. This track is by FAR the most left field and abstract track that HAIM have ever put out. Now, I’m not saying this is some experimental pop tune ready to melt your mind, but the beat here is just so much more abstract than what we’re used to hearing, and the vocal and vocal effects are certainly a little weird as well. But it still remains very sweet and likable, and most of all seriously catchy. The more rock elements continue to be something that sets the ladies apart from other pop acts, but at its core it’s just another VERY decent pop tune. But up next, HAIM break out “Ready For You”, which to me comes off much more like a track from their debut album. Almost a little too much to be honest. It’s an alright tune, but it’s not nearly as catchy, not even close. As far as the instrumentals go, this is certainly passable, and there isn’t anything necessarily bad about it. But I just can’t shake this feeling that “Ready For You” is just such a back step for HAIM. There are elements that make this interesting and tolerable, such as some of those backing vocals and harmonies. But overall, this is just a little too stripped down for my liking.
HAIM however, have really gotten the formula for gigantic pop songs under wraps, as seen on the absolutely gigantic title track. Right off the bat, this track has such a huge feel to it. The trio’s vocals here are so hip and smokey sounding, I’ve honestly always loved that about them, and that’s especially true on this gigantic hook which is just so infectious. I still feel like there’s almost a 80’s Power Ballad feel to a lot of this, but it’s all done so tastefully that is comes off great. Plus, I really can’t stress enough just how far the ladies have come along in their instrumentals. Plus, some of these vocal effects they keep bringing in show that HAIM are certainly up for branching out. But HAIM up next bring to the table their sweetest and most pop centered track we’ve gotten here so far, “You Never Knew”. There’s still once again a very retro sound to all of this. But I don’t know, almost none of this really stands out to me. It’s catchy and sweet, but outside of that I really don’t have any way of knowing this is a HAIM tune. The verses are OK, but is it just me or is this hook completely lackluster after some of the absolutely gigantic ones we’ve heard so far. “You Never Knew” isn’t terrible, but it’s just too much of a straight up pop tune for me. The instrumentals are bland, the chorus is flat, I just expect so much more. Now, while “Kept Me Crying” certainly starts off much slower, I feel like this one has the epic feel that I love to hear in HAIM’s music. While I wasn’t sure what they were going for with the earlier vocal effects, here they come off simply amazing. This almost has an Imogen Heap or a James Blake feel in points. So these very spacey effect, matched with their slower paced and HUGE sounding tracks comes off seriously well done. Not to mention, the seriously heartbreaking themes in these lyrics just make this one so much more powerful. Then we have the solos, which are seriously pretty damn solid. “Kept Me Crying” is the track I’ve been dying to hear from HAIM. But then HAIM sort of get on my nerves with “Found It In Silence”. While I certainly do like the big string sections in this track that do come out nicely, as well as some of the tension built in these verses. Hell, in a lot of ways this may be the biggest track here. But I sort of miss some of the catchier songwriting to be honest. “Found It In Silence” is a different kind of tune for Haim, and there still is a lot to like here, such as the gigantic backing vocals. It’s not a “must listen track”, but it’s an interesting one for HAIM.
HAIM continue to experiment on “Walking Away”, which almost has a slight Alternative R&B feel to it. Sadly though, I feel like it’s not a good sound for them. While the ladies have some seriously soulful and bluesy vocals, which is something I actually really love, these verses are pathetic and quite frankly boring. There isn’t even a big chorus to help this one out at all. I’m not feeling “Walking Away” at all. And it’s a shame, because HAIM still certainly sound decent, it’s just the instrumentals and songwriting bringing this one down. “Right Now” starts off with another seriously slow and quiet start. And to be honest, that’s totally fine by me. But as far as a single goes, this is by far the most lackluster here. Some of the vocal effects on this one don’t come off nearly as decent as they have earlier. Instrumentally, this one is really quiet and quite frankly boring. That is of course, until all of the grander instrumentals pop in. The instrumentals on “Right Now” at the very least make this a little exciting from time to time. But overall I feel like this is just so underwhelming still. If this album is HAIM trying to experiment, the results are a little too hit and miss for me. Thankfully, HAIM do end this album off with a fantastic track, “Night So Long”. While this one once again has a seriously slow start, this one feels so much more worth it right away. As far as a heart wrenching ballad goes, this one is simply incredible. It’s not exciting, and it’s certainly not catchy, but it wraps everything up on the album really nicely.
Rating: 7.4/10
Give A Listen To: “Want You Back”, “Nothing’s Wrong”, “Something To Tell You”, “Kept Me Crying”
Overall Thoughts: This was a really tough one for me. Because let me tell you, the tracks on here that are good are some of the best tracks these ladies have released yet! But a whole lot of this album shows the trio seriously going to make their sound bigger and branching out into new territories. Some of those new territories are exciting and come off so wonderfully. But some of the other moments of branching out, quite frankly come off seriously messy. This is a solid pop album overall, but I feel like their debut was a little more impactful.
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