The favourite songs of the HAIM sisters
HAIM, the pop band made up of sisters Este, Danielle and Alana, have always been in the spotlight. They began playing music together from a young age, inspired by their parent’s 1970s classic rock and Americana records. They formed a band called Rockinhaim in their youth and played cover songs at charity events before focusing on their own original compositions.
After the older of the three, Este and Danielle, were scouted to join the Columbia-signed all-girl pop rock outfit Valli Girls, and they recorded a few songs which ended up on the soundtrack to the teen film The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. Eventually, the three sisters decided to concentrate on making music as a trio, although they didn’t consider it to be a genuine professional endeavour for a start.
A jam session led Danielle to be spotted by musician Jenny Lewis, who asked her to join her touring band. After Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas saw Lewis on tour, he invited Danielle to join his solo backing band before she was offered the chance to play with Cee Lo Green, which she turned down to focus on HAIM.
HAIM played a string of support slots before signing with Polydor Records in the UK. By 2013, they had released their first album, Days Are Gone, which was well-received by critics as a solid pop-rock album.
Since then, HAIM have released two more successful albums, Something to Tell You and Women in Music, and have frequently made music videos in collaboration with fellow San-Fernando Valley-born creative Paul Thomas Anderson. In 2021, Alana even played the main role in the director’s film Licorice Pizza.
The band have certainly benefited from a lot of industry connections and a privileged upbringing in California, yet many critics assert that the band possess the ability to create the perfect pop-rock songs, with their sound once being described as “music that sounds like it was written on a lakeside retreat attended by Stevie Nicks, John Waite and En Vogue.”
Each sister once composed a playlist made up of some of their favourite songs, available on their Spotify account, which gives us a good indicator of the artists and genres that have collectively shaped their sound. Alana’s playlist contains an eclectic mix, which includes songs such as ‘Lift Off’ by Jay Z, Kanye West, and Beyonce, British indie hit ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’ by Wolf Alice, and hyper-pop staple ‘LEMONADE’ by the late SOPHIE.
As for Danielle, her playlist contains much less new music, instead featuring the likes of Ry Cooder, XTC, Television, Mary J. Blige, Chaka Khan, and George Michael. However, she has included the likes of indie darlings Vampire Weekend with their 2013 track ‘Ya Hey’, and singer-songwriter Cass McCombs’ track ‘Windfall’.
Finally, Este’s playlist – which seems to be the perfect mix of the two other playlists. She features the heavenly Angel Olsen song ‘Windows’, ‘Love and Anger’ by Kate Bush, ‘Straight to Hell’ by the Clash, and the same Chaka Khan track – ”Ain’t Nobody’ – as her sister. Other features come from John Lennon, FKA Twigs, Blood Orange, and David Bowie.
Check out this playlist below, which compiled a bunch of HAIM-approved tracks.
