Music Review: HAIM return with a superb and salty breakup album
'I Quit,' the fourth full-length album from the trio, is a breakup collection that never gets too weepy. You can dance to a lot of it. Even the song 'Cry,' which name-checks the seven stages of grief, is an upbeat bop.
Six years after the trio released their jazzy, Lou Reed-y single 'Summer Girl,' the mood has somewhat soured this summer. Across 15 tracks, the songs are about fresh splits, old wounds and newfound independence.
'Now I'm gone/Quick as a gunshot/Born to run/Can't be held up,' go the lyrics for the opening track 'Gone,' which samples from George Michael's anthem of liberty 'Freedom! '90.'
Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim found themselves all single for the first time in a long time while making the album, looking back with equal parts venom and guilt. 'You know I'm trying to change/'Cause I know I'm not innocent,' goes 'Love You Right.'
'The Farm' has a rootsy twang, 'Down to be Wrong' has a Sheryl Crow vibe and 'Take Me Back' has a Go-Go's feel. 'Love You Right' is pure Fleetwood Mac harmonies, even making reference to a chain. 'Spinning' is a slice of house bliss with overlapping harmonies, easily the most danceable Haim song since 'I Want You Back.' The wistful, warm 'Million Years' leans into electronica.
The bluesy 'Blood on the Street' has more vitriol ('I swear you wouldn't care/If I was covered in blood lying dead on the street') but ends with freedom: 'Now the sun's up, I'm out, and that's that.' And 'Relationships' is a standout on a standout album, with Danielle Haim's falsetto exploring the agony of romantic ties and her sister's bass thumping.
But the best song has to be 'Everybody's Trying to Figure Me Out,' in which each Haim shines as tempos change and the song morphs from folk to indie rock to blissed-out '70s, with the final mantra: 'You think you're gonna die/But you're not gonna die.'
The album is co-produced by Danielle Haim and HAIM's frequent collaborator Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend. The trio's usual producer, Ariel Rechtshaid, split with Danielle Haim, which may account for the new energy.
The album closer, 'Now It's Time,' interpolates U2's industrial-pop song 'Numb,' adds cool drum rhythms and an Alanis Morissette-like strut, ending with an exhilarating jam session. 'It's time/To let go,' says the lyrics. Not to this album.
___
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'Especially before everything got put onto YouTube, very few people had heard it because it had never been on CD. But it had this iconic cover that everybody recognized.' 'Buckingham Nicks' featured the duo's iconic harmonies and Buckingham's distinct guitar sound, which later fueled Fleetwood Mac's ability to sell tens of millions of records. But 'Buckingham Nicks' bombed upon release and Polydor dropped them from the label, prompting Nicks' return to waitressing and Buckingham to briefly tour with Don Everly. The rest of the story is enshrined in lore: Drummer Mick Fleetwood heard 'Frozen Love' from the album when he visited the studio where it was recorded, Sound City. After guitarist Bob Welch left the band, Fleetwood invited Buckingham to Fleetwood Mac, with Buckingham insisting Nicks join too. The band also included the late Christine McVie on keyboards and John McVie on bass. Generations of avid Fleetwood Mac fans have tattooed their lyrics or analyzed them at a forensic level, enshrining the tumultuous relationship between Buckingham and Nicks in pop culture. The upcoming reissue of 'Buckingham Nicks' is a reminder of the couple's musical beginnings and the special status their only joint album has held among fans and record collectors. 'As soon as we put it out, it goes that day,' said Michael Bell, owner of Hunky Dory Records, which has locations in Raleigh, Durham and Cary, North Carolina. 'Joni Mitchell fronting the Eagles' Nicks and Buckingham met during high school at a local church in Northern California where young musicians gathered on a school night, according to Stephen Davis' 'Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks.' Buckingham played the Mamas & the Papas' 'California Dreamin'' on piano, prompting Nicks to chime in, singing Michelle Phillips' high harmony. 'They glanced at each other; she noticed his eyes, cold blue like lake ice,' Davis wrote. 'They sang the whole song while the room went quiet, everyone mesmerized.' After high school, Nicks joined the band Buckingham was in, Fritz, which would open for Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. They eventually split off as a duo, started dating and moved to Los Angeles. Nicks said she loved Buckingham before he was a millionaire, according to Davis' book, and 'washed his jeans and embroidered stupid moons and stars on the bottom of them.' The first track on 'Buckingham Nicks,' 'Crying in the Night,' has 'a sense of Joni Mitchell fronting the Eagles,' Davis wrote. 'Frozen Love' closed out side two, with 'layers of strings and synthesizers and a major Lindsey Buckingham rock guitar symphony.' 'No one seemed to like the record,' Davis wrote. 'Polydor executives hadn't even wanted to release it.' 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Fuchs never bought the album himself because, 'every time I came in, it was $60 or $80. ... So I'll probably end up picking up a reissue.' Across the river at the St. Paul, Minnesota, location of Cheapo Discs, though, worker Geoff Good said people rarely came in looking for the original. He does expect the reissue to juice sales. He has the original, which he bought in 1974 or 1975, in his own collection. 'The songwriting is really good, the harmonies are good, Lindsey Buckingham is an amazing guitar player,' he said. Mansfield, the Nashville historian, randomly found a copy two weeks ago in a neighborhood garage sale, just days prior to hints that a reissue was coming. He has no idea why 'Buckingham Nicks' hasn't been reissued more considering the steady demand. For him, it's a good album but not one that reached the heights of what was to come. 'It's definitely not there yet,' he said. 'I don't know that there's anything on this album that would have made a Fleetwood album.' The romantic relationship between Buckingham and Nicks would end around the making of 'Rumours.' Nicks and Buckingham would shoot eye daggers at each other onstage in packed stadiums, while Buckingham would roll his eyes during Nicks' MusiCares speech in 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times. Buckingham would eventually be kicked off the band's tour in 2018 , prompting a lawsuit that was later settled. But this month, Buckingham and Nicks seemed to be operating in perfect symmetry — at least on Instagram. Each posted half a line from 'Frozen Love,' — with Nicks writing 'And if you go forward…' and Buckingham responding, 'I'll meet you there.' On Wednesday, they shared the same video of a billboard being put up to advertise the reissue of 'Buckingham Nicks.' 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'Especially before everything got put onto YouTube, very few people had heard it because it had never been on CD. But it had this iconic cover that everybody recognized.' 'Buckingham Nicks' featured the duo's iconic harmonies and Buckingham's distinct guitar sound, which later fueled Fleetwood Mac's ability to sell tens of millions of records. But 'Buckingham Nicks' bombed upon release and Polydor dropped them from the label, prompting Nicks' return to waitressing and Buckingham to briefly tour with Don Everly. The rest of the story is enshrined in lore: Drummer Mick Fleetwood heard 'Frozen Love' from the album when he visited the studio where it was recorded, Sound City. After guitarist Bob Welch left the band, Fleetwood invited Buckingham to Fleetwood Mac, with Buckingham insisting Nicks join too. The band also included the late Christine McVie on keyboards and John McVie on bass. Generations of avid Fleetwood Mac fans have tattooed their lyrics or analyzed them at a forensic level, enshrining the tumultuous relationship between Buckingham and Nicks in pop culture. The upcoming reissue of 'Buckingham Nicks' is a reminder of the couple's musical beginnings and the special status their only joint album has held among fans and record collectors. 'As soon as we put it out, it goes that day,' said Michael Bell, owner of Hunky Dory Records, which has locations in Raleigh, Durham and Cary, North Carolina. 'Joni Mitchell fronting the Eagles' Nicks and Buckingham met during high school at a local church in Northern California where young musicians gathered on a school night, according to Stephen Davis' 'Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks.' Buckingham played the Mamas & the Papas' 'California Dreamin'" on piano, prompting Nicks to chime in, singing Michelle Phillips' high harmony. 'They glanced at each other; she noticed his eyes, cold blue like lake ice," Davis wrote. "They sang the whole song while the room went quiet, everyone mesmerized.' After high school, Nicks joined the band Buckingham was in, Fritz, which would open for Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. They eventually split off as a duo, started dating and moved to Los Angeles. Nicks said she loved Buckingham before he was a millionaire, according to Davis' book, and 'washed his jeans and embroidered stupid moons and stars on the bottom of them.' The first track on 'Buckingham Nicks,' 'Crying in the Night," has 'a sense of Joni Mitchell fronting the Eagles,' Davis wrote. 'Frozen Love' closed out side two, with 'layers of strings and synthesizers and a major Lindsey Buckingham rock guitar symphony." 'No one seemed to like the record,' Davis wrote. 'Polydor executives hadn't even wanted to release it." A review that ran in The Pittsburgh Press said Nicks and Buckingham produced "a pleasant, albeit a whiny vocal blend on some pretty fair songs.' 'And if you don't like the record,' the review concluded, 'you might like the costumes they're wearing on the cover — a couple of those oh-so-chic birthday suits.' Interest in the record only grew following the new Fleetwood Mac lineup. That incarnation's first record in 1975, 'Fleetwood Mac,' contained the songs 'Landslide,' 'Rhiannon' and 'Monday Morning.' 'Rumours' came two years later. Record store rarity Bob Fuchs, retail manager of record store Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, said the shop gets in about two to four of the original vinyl a year. Those go on on its collectible wall that showcases hard-to-find titles. Depending on its condition, the album sells for between $40 to $90, he said. 'You put it up on a Saturday morning and it's gone by Saturday at noon. So it lasts about two hours,' he said. Fuchs never bought the album himself because, 'every time I came in, it was $60 or $80. ... So I'll probably end up picking up a reissue.' Across the river at the St. Paul, Minnesota, location of Cheapo Discs, though, worker Geoff Good said people rarely came in looking for the original. He does expect the reissue to juice sales. He has the original, which he bought in 1974 or 1975, in his own collection. 'The songwriting is really good, the harmonies are good, Lindsey Buckingham is an amazing guitar player,' he said. Mansfield, the Nashville historian, randomly found a copy two weeks ago in a neighborhood garage sale, just days prior to hints that a reissue was coming. He has no idea why 'Buckingham Nicks' hasn't been reissued more considering the steady demand. For him, it's a good album but not one that reached the heights of what was to come. 'It's definitely not there yet,' he said. 'I don't know that there's anything on this album that would have made a Fleetwood album.' The romantic relationship between Buckingham and Nicks would end around the making of 'Rumours.' Nicks and Buckingham would shoot eye daggers at each other onstage in packed stadiums, while Buckingham would roll his eyes during Nicks' MusiCares speech in 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times. Buckingham would eventually be kicked off the band's tour in 2018 , prompting a lawsuit that was later settled. But this month, Buckingham and Nicks seemed to be operating in perfect symmetry — at least on Instagram. Each posted half a line from 'Frozen Love,' — with Nicks writing "And if you go forward…' and Buckingham responding, 'I'll meet you there.' On Wednesday, they shared the same video of a billboard being put up to advertise the reissue of 'Buckingham Nicks.' They may have made the album more than 50 years ago, Buckingham said in announcing its reissue, 'but it stands up in a way you hope it would, by these two kids who were pretty young to be doing that work.' ___ Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia. AP Business Writer Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this report. Ben Finley And Kristin M. Hall, The Associated Press
