American trio of sisters HAIM return with their third album, Women in Music Pt. III.
The title immediately confronts the misogyny of the music industry, although you would be remiss to judge that is all the album is. Instead, WIM (III) packages a precious set of impassioned and delicate songs, lamenting broken relationships, tested faiths and all that is rotten about life.
Musically, the album is quite diverse. The jazz roots are evident, with saxophone melodies appearing prominently in a few tracks, notably “Los Angeles” and “Summer Girl”. Other songs become lively with electrical guitar riffs and features, such as “The Steps” and “FUBT”.
At times, the album does falter into the realm of comfort though, and tracks like “Gasoline” contain lyrics that look like they were extracted from a Red Hot Chilli Peppers album.
However, most enchanting are the vocal performances on the album. Danielle’s lead vocals glisten with a layer of deep emotion and vulnerability, indicating these tracks are deeply personal to her and her sisters. Indeed, none more so than “Summer Girl”, which carries the emotional burden of the cancer diagnosis of Danielle’s boyfriend (who himself is a producer on the album).
While I don’t believe there is a substantial amount truly experimental contained within the album, it’s nice to hear an artist truly pour their heart and soul into a project, instead of stepping wayward in search of trailblazing ideas.
8/10: Good things come in threes
