Music Review: HAIM return with a superb and salty breakup album

With their new album ‘I quit,' Haim ushers in their next era of music — and life: ‘Now it's time to party'

Yahoo

2 days ago

Yahoo

With their new album ‘I quit,' Haim ushers in their next era of music — and life: ‘Now it's time to party'

Leave it to Este, Danielle and Alana Haim to maintain consistency. In true Haim fashion, the trio of sisters has continued their tradition of serving up an immaculate and aptly timed summer vibe with their latest LP, I quit. Released on Friday, the 15-track album shows a shift in perspective for sisters Este, Danielle and Alana, who exude a sort of declarative self-assuredness that only comes from making mistakes and learning from them. With textured acoustics, throwback-sounding pop and straight up rock 'n' roll, I quit is a breakup album that defies genres and audience expectations, while still maintaining Haim's signature laidback, sun-dazed cool. The album captures women at their most emotional, conflicted and self-indulgent. Navigating life and love can be "unpretty." Haim gets that. 'We never wanted [the title] to be a negative,' Alana told GQ in its July cover story. 'When we say 'I quit,' it's like, 'I quit the things that don't serve me.' And it's really amazing, 'cause quitting is a new beginning.' Keeping to their casting of beloved 'white boys of the month,' as some fans have put it, Will Poulter is the first 'it' boy to be featured in the artwork for one of the album's singles. The 'All over me' cover art depicts Danielle and Poulter in a fitting recreation of a paparazzi photo taken of Gwyneth Paltrow and then-boyfriend Brad Pitt in 1995, in which Paltrow is awkwardly leaning against Pitt on a New York City sidewalk. The Bear actor also plays Danielle's leading man in the accompanying music video, which sees the Haim sisters — and their men — lusting after each other. But Poulter isn't the only male celebrity featured in the three-minute clip — the band also tapped Saltburn actor Archie Madekwe and Station Eleven actor Nabhaan Rizwan as love interests for Este and Alana. Fans were first given a taste of Haim's I quit era in March 2025, when the band teased the release of their breezy, post-breakup single 'Relationships' with a photo that bore an uncanny resemblance to one taken of Nicole Kidman in 2001. The heavily memed photo depicts the actress triumphantly skipping down an L.A. street with her eyes closed, mouth agape and arms in the air. The Haim sisters, in their re-creation, are also seen walking down a nondescript street in Los Angeles with the same looks of elation. When 'Relationships' finally hit streaming platforms on March 12, its accompanying music video was released on YouTube. The video, much like the cover art, did not disappoint. The trio enlisted help from one of the internet's most coveted boyfriends, Drew Starkey, who plays Danielle's love interest. The video begins with Danielle and her sisters loading boxes into a car, presumably following her breakup with Starkey. The footage rewinds as the song continues, and we watch as several moments in their relationship play out. Cut between the sometimes steamy scenes between Danielle and Starkey are vibey shots of the sisters lounging on a bedroom floor or velvet sofa. From there, a formula was established. Shot by photographer Terrence O'Connor, the artwork for Haim's next three singles were also re-creations of niche paparazzi photos from the "noughties": Kate Moss soaking up the sun against an SUV in 2000 ('Everybody's trying to figure me out'), a PDA-fueled moment between Jared Leto and Scarlett Johansson in 2004 ('Down to be wrong'), and Keira Knightley and ex-boyfriend Jamie Dornan strolling arm in arm, also in 2004 ('Take me back'). For the 'Down to be wrong' music video, Haim found their leading man in yet another internet boyfriend: Logan Lerman. The video opens with Danielle in a hotel bed with the Oh Hi! actor, singing to him as he sleeps. When Lerman finally wakes up and wanders out of the hotel room, the sisters, seemingly invisible, go through his belongings and mess up the hotel room. He can't seem to understand why any of this is happening though. Less than two weeks before the album's release, the sisters played a set at Barcelona's Primavera Sound festival, where they debuted their new tour looks designed by Nicolas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton. Their Barcelona performance came two months after they ushered in the I quit era with two hometown shows in L.A. Next up for Este, Danielle and Alana is the Margate Summer Series in the United Kingdom on June 27 before kicking off the U.S. leg of their tour in September. In ridding themselves of things that don't serve them, the sisters see I quit as a celebration of sorts — the ultimate party. 'All of our songs are about our collective trauma and going through it,' Alana told GQ. 'A lot of our last album [Women in Music Pt. III] was us grappling with going to therapy for the first time and these emotions that had been bottled up for so many years, and I think with this album, we've done the work on ourselves, and now it's time to party.' The album's artwork, as with its title, evokes a similar sense of simplicity. The photograph, with its colder, bluish appearance, was shot by acclaimed filmmaker and Haim family friend Paul Thomas Anderson. Alana found the LED sign, Danielle purchased a bunch of dresses from an L.A. thrift store, and Este secured the filming location. With Anderson's busy schedule, they had only one day to pull it all together — and it worked. 'We were so nostalgic making this record,' Este told Kesha on Spotify's Countdown To vodcast. 'Being able to do that together as sisters, and go out together again — it also felt like it was when we were kids.'

Yahoo

2 days ago

Yahoo

With their new album ‘I quit,' Haim ushers in their next era of music — and life: ‘Now it's time to party'

Leave it to Este, Danielle and Alana Haim to maintain consistency. In true Haim fashion, the trio of sisters has continued their tradition of serving up an immaculate and aptly timed summer vibe with their latest LP, I quit. Released on Friday, the 15-track album shows a shift in perspective for sisters Este, Danielle and Alana, who exude a sort of declarative self-assuredness that only comes from making mistakes and learning from them. With textured acoustics, throwback-sounding pop and straight up rock 'n' roll, I quit is a breakup album that defies genres and audience expectations, while still maintaining Haim's signature laidback, sun-dazed cool. The album captures women at their most emotional, conflicted and self-indulgent. Navigating life and love can be "unpretty." Haim gets that. 'We never wanted [the title] to be a negative,' Alana told GQ in its July cover story. 'When we say 'I quit,' it's like, 'I quit the things that don't serve me.' And it's really amazing, 'cause quitting is a new beginning.' Keeping to their casting of beloved 'white boys of the month,' as some fans have put it, Will Poulter is the first 'it' boy to be featured in the artwork for one of the album's singles. The 'All over me' cover art depicts Danielle and Poulter in a fitting recreation of a paparazzi photo taken of Gwyneth Paltrow and then-boyfriend Brad Pitt in 1995, in which Paltrow is awkwardly leaning against Pitt on a New York City sidewalk. The Bear actor also plays Danielle's leading man in the accompanying music video, which sees the Haim sisters — and their men — lusting after each other. But Poulter isn't the only male celebrity featured in the three-minute clip — the band also tapped Saltburn actor Archie Madekwe and Station Eleven actor Nabhaan Rizwan as love interests for Este and Alana. Fans were first given a taste of Haim's I quit era in March 2025, when the band teased the release of their breezy, post-breakup single 'Relationships' with a photo that bore an uncanny resemblance to one taken of Nicole Kidman in 2001. The heavily memed photo depicts the actress triumphantly skipping down an L.A. street with her eyes closed, mouth agape and arms in the air. The Haim sisters, in their re-creation, are also seen walking down a nondescript street in Los Angeles with the same looks of elation. When 'Relationships' finally hit streaming platforms on March 12, its accompanying music video was released on YouTube. The video, much like the cover art, did not disappoint. The trio enlisted help from one of the internet's most coveted boyfriends, Drew Starkey, who plays Danielle's love interest. The video begins with Danielle and her sisters loading boxes into a car, presumably following her breakup with Starkey. The footage rewinds as the song continues, and we watch as several moments in their relationship play out. Cut between the sometimes steamy scenes between Danielle and Starkey are vibey shots of the sisters lounging on a bedroom floor or velvet sofa. From there, a formula was established. Shot by photographer Terrence O'Connor, the artwork for Haim's next three singles were also re-creations of niche paparazzi photos from the "noughties": Kate Moss soaking up the sun against an SUV in 2000 ('Everybody's trying to figure me out'), a PDA-fueled moment between Jared Leto and Scarlett Johansson in 2004 ('Down to be wrong'), and Keira Knightley and ex-boyfriend Jamie Dornan strolling arm in arm, also in 2004 ('Take me back'). For the 'Down to be wrong' music video, Haim found their leading man in yet another internet boyfriend: Logan Lerman. The video opens with Danielle in a hotel bed with the Oh Hi! actor, singing to him as he sleeps. When Lerman finally wakes up and wanders out of the hotel room, the sisters, seemingly invisible, go through his belongings and mess up the hotel room. He can't seem to understand why any of this is happening though. Less than two weeks before the album's release, the sisters played a set at Barcelona's Primavera Sound festival, where they debuted their new tour looks designed by Nicolas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton. Their Barcelona performance came two months after they ushered in the I quit era with two hometown shows in L.A. Next up for Este, Danielle and Alana is the Margate Summer Series in the United Kingdom on June 27 before kicking off the U.S. leg of their tour in September. In ridding themselves of things that don't serve them, the sisters see I quit as a celebration of sorts — the ultimate party. 'All of our songs are about our collective trauma and going through it,' Alana told GQ. 'A lot of our last album [Women in Music Pt. III] was us grappling with going to therapy for the first time and these emotions that had been bottled up for so many years, and I think with this album, we've done the work on ourselves, and now it's time to party.' The album's artwork, as with its title, evokes a similar sense of simplicity. The photograph, with its colder, bluish appearance, was shot by acclaimed filmmaker and Haim family friend Paul Thomas Anderson. Alana found the LED sign, Danielle purchased a bunch of dresses from an L.A. thrift store, and Este secured the filming location. With Anderson's busy schedule, they had only one day to pull it all together — and it worked. 'We were so nostalgic making this record,' Este told Kesha on Spotify's Countdown To vodcast. 'Being able to do that together as sisters, and go out together again — it also felt like it was when we were kids.'

Vogue

2 days ago

Vogue

Haim Isn't Answering to Anyone

Danielle Haim is in the middle of explaining her songwriting process when she's interrupted by a call on her hotel phone. 'One second,' she says. Luckily, her siblings Alana and Este, who round out the band Haim, are there to fill the void, performing a rapid-fire riff—a sister act, if you will. 'You have a caller! Who is it?' Alana asks. 'Is it mom?' Este wonders. 'It's probably mom,' Alana concludes. Photo: Heidi Stanton The trio have always been close, but their synchronicity has never been more apparent than on their fourth studio album, I Quit, out today. On its face, the record—co-produced by Danielle and Rostam Batmanglij, formerly of Vampire Weekend—is a breakup album, largely inspired by Danielle's split from Ariel Rechtshaid, who produced the band's previous three records. Over its 15 tracks, the record travels from the lusty beginnings of a romance to the grief of its dissolution and the catharsis of finding closure. But present throughout is a sense of ecstasy: in album opener 'Gone'—with its sample from George Michael's 'Freedom! '90'—and the jubilant, Alana-led 'Spinning,' all the way through to the percussive closer, 'Now It's Time.' 'I wish I could tell you there was some huge blowup with my past relationship. The real story is just two people that lost each other,' Danielle says. 'There's a lot of love there. I think we made really great music with my ex, and he's such a genius producer, but I think I really found so much strength in producing this with Rostam. I really feel like it's our best work.'

Music Review: HAIM return with a superb and salty breakup album

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With their new album ‘I quit,' Haim ushers in their next era of music — and life: ‘Now it's time to party'

With their new album ‘I quit,' Haim ushers in their next era of music — and life: ‘Now it's time to party'

Haim Isn't Answering to Anyone

Music Review: HAIM return with a superb and salty breakup album

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Try Our AI Features

Comments

Related Articles

With their new album ‘I quit,' Haim ushers in their next era of music — and life: ‘Now it's time to party'

With their new album ‘I quit,' Haim ushers in their next era of music — and life: ‘Now it's time to party'

Haim Isn't Answering to Anyone

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