CD reviews
HAIM Something to Tell You CALIFORNIAN soft-rock sisters Haim return after four years away with a polished second album. While it may not have the “every song is a hit” feel of their debut, Something To Tell
You is a juicy affair. It opens with Want You Back, a tablesetter that would have fit comfortably among the hits on Days Are Gone. It plays to their strengths with layered, classic pop melodies, earworm hooks, a little rock and a squiggle of electronics. While not their electro album, there is an undercurrent of electronic trickery within these new songs. There are some unexpected vocal effects on the sauntering Little of Your Love, a tune that starts to unravel and get loose towards the end. Kind of wish they went full prog-rock with it but, hey, have to leave something for album number three.
Ready For You is another high point with its rubbery R&B vibe. Closing tune Night So Long is a standout because it is so vastly different to all that comes before it. Most of the album features the push-pull of relationships for its lyrical themes — some happy, some sad, some silly. There is the joy of first love, the crush of a one-night stand, the “joy” of revenge on an ex-partner. It’s pretty ho-hum pop fodder. But then there is Night So Long, a truly haunting tune with ghostly, raw vocals. It is more gritty and powerful than the typical bouncy, joyous Haim sound. It is great. HENRY SAIZ Balance presents Natura Sonoris SPANISH genius Henry Saiz is the kind of dude who goes above and beyond. In reuniting with his buddies at world-leading Australian label Balance, Saiz has taken a different approach to the norm with his new mix CD. The DJ has created something mystical, with a narrative that builds through the twists and turns of the texture and melody in his tunes. And, unlike most, they are very much his tunes. The full two hours and 20-minute set was constructed of songs written by him, or for his label. Then to up the ante a little more, about a quarter of the songs have yet more Saiz material layered atop them. He has created a density of sound that you just don’t hear every day. And it is engrossing. The most fun part, away from the geekery of how it was created, is that the album zoomed me back in time to a sweaty, smoky dance floor at 5am. The stabling acid, the cascading piano, the heavy kick drums, the moodiness followed by trancelike euphoria: Balance presents Natura Sonoris is cracking from top to bottom.