Album Review: HAIM, I Quit

On their fourth album, the HAIM sisters keep writing their own take on the rock ‘n’ roll myth. I Quit is populated with layered syncopation, nonchalant-yet-infectious harmonies and plugged-in riffage.

Two years ago, HAIM hinted at a collaboration with British-Indian maestro Jai Paul, but none of the songs bear his imprint. Instead, I Quit feels more inspired by Winston Philips or early Solange.

For sure, a game of spot-the-reference is included in the entry fee. On opener ‘Gone’, they sample George Michael’s ‘Freedom! ‘90’, winking beneath tongue-in-cheek lacquers of post-break-up freedom.

‘Relationships’ introduces the new Haim era with its positively blunt interrogation of toxic love affairs: “I hear a voice in my head/ And it keeps asking, ‘Why am I in this relationship?’”

Meanwhile, ‘Love You Right’ yearns so irreducibly, and with such a raw current of despair, that you could easily picture Lesley Gore singing it. While the Haim sisters flirt with rock, funk and folk textures, I Quit makes a point of not boxing itself in.

Their parents raised them on Motown, folk and Fleetwood Mac, during a time TLC topped the charts. I Quit may be a combination of all these influences, but it notably expands on Haim’s unique brand of pop-rock. The results are very impressive indeed.

• Out Now.