There are excellent records from Jessie Ware, Nadine Shah and Pottery out this week which are all worthy of ‘album of the week’.
The third album from Los Angeles-based sisters, Haim, is perhaps the most surprising album of the week. Their chart-topping debut ‘Days Are Gone’ and its follow-up ‘Something To Tell You’ were both full of great, radio-friendly pop songs but arguably lacked that something special which turns a good album into a great one.
They previewed the record last year with 3 standalone singles – ‘Summer Girl‘, ‘Now I’m In It’ and ‘Hallelujah‘. All excellent in their own right, they were completely different from anything they had done before and also from each other. They showcased sides to Haim that we had not seen but, as they were so diverse, it was not clear how they would fit into a cohesive final product.
It transpires that these 3 brilliant singles are, in fact, just bonus tracks at the end of Haim’s best album yet. The album we’ve wanted them to make since they won BBC’s Sound Of poll back in 2013. It’s musically wide-ranging, lyrically personal and melodically impressive.
Check out the clearly Sheryl Crow-influenced single, ‘The Steps’ below:
