Sister act packing a real punch

FROM the andrews Sisters in the swing era to the Pointer Sisters in the Seventies, the sibling trio is an enduring pop tradition. Following on from hanson and the Jonas Brothers, it now brings us haim.

Raised in California, the three sisters cut their teeth by touring in family band Rockinhaim.

Guitarist-singer Danielle haim (below), 28, bassist Este, 31, and keyboardist alana, 25, topped the UK charts with their 2013 debut Days are Gone, and are going for the jugular again: Something to tell You is a slick mix of rock, pop and R&B.

When they wrote their flighty debut, haim were in their early and mid-20s. With greater experience, here they explore more adult emotions.

Want You Back sets out their stall. an upbeat pop number, it complements Danielle’s lead vocals with her sisters’ harmonies and hand claps.

the R&B-tinged Little Of Your Love and the heavily orchestrated Found It In Silence are similarly catchy. But haim can be subtle, too. the velvety R&B of Walking away is powered by breathless singing. You Never Knew looks towards the bluesy soul perfected by Christine McVie for songs like Little Lies and Everywhere on Fleetwood Mac’s tango In the Night.

the relationships detailed here aren’t as tangled as those that fuelled Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, but there’s an undertow of regret that gives numbers such as Kept Me Crying, a Seventies- style glitter stomp, a ring of authenticity. Beneath that burnished exterior there’s a haunting quality to closing ballads Night So Long and Right Now which suggests the best is yet to come.

HAIM play Leeds and Reading Festivals on Aug 25 & 27 (haimtheband.com).