Haim have revealed that their upcoming album has an as-yet-uncleared sample of George Michael and was inspired by Beyoncé.
The sisters – comprised of Danielle, Este and Alana – shared the latest preview to their upcoming album yesterday (March 12) in the form of breezy new single ‘Relationships’.
Now, the members have shared more insight into the as-yet-untitled album as a whole, and revealed that one song is set to include a sample of George Michael.
They made the comments in a new interview with I-D, describing a song on the tracklist that is called ‘Gone’. It is the opening track to the album, and reportedly captures the feeling of clarity after a breakup. “You can hate me for what I am/You can shame me for what I’ve done/You can’t make me disappear/You never saw me for what I was,” Danielle sings over chugging guitar.
From there, a sample of the gospel chant from George Michael’s ‘Freedom ’90’ comes in – although it hasn’t actually been cleared by the late artist’s team yet.
“Everything’s gonna figure out,” Alana said of the sample usage.
Danielle went on to say how the song also took inspiration from another pop icon. “I was listening to the Beyoncé album, and I was really inspired by all the different samples,” she explained. “It doesn’t feel ‘Fuck you’ to me—it feels like… ‘I’m gonna do my thing.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, the band spoke about how there is a song called ‘Take Me Back’ which is a “rose-tinted eulogy to all those crazy, unusual, or downright terrible lost loves”, and also explained how the album as a whole fits into their discography.
Alana told the outlet that it is “the closest we’ve ever gotten to how we wanted to sound,” and saw the trio have a “completely different experience” recording compared to previous albums.
“Working with Rostam, in general it’s very quick, kinetic with him, which I really love as an artist,” Danielle added. “Maybe before, it wasn’t that way, it was kind of a more… longer, searching, laboured situation.”
Yesterday, a new press release said that the latest single ‘Relationships’ “offers a contrast to the forthcoming album’s Rock sound.”
To tease their new era, the group previously shared a snippet of ‘Relationships’ in a TikTok clip which saw them dancing and singing along to the song in a bathroom. They also shared the single’s cover art on their Instagram.
Haim’s last release was ‘Home’ in 2023 as part of the Barbie soundtrack. Prior to that, they released the one-off song ‘Lost Track’, which was previewed during select screenings of Licorice Pizza, Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2022 coming-of-age film that starred Alana Haim alongside Cooper Hoffman.
They haven’t released an album since 2020’s ‘Women In Music Pt. III‘. That album received a glowing five-star review from NME, with Rhian Daly writing: “By breaking from what the world might expect from them and letting themselves do whatever the hell they want, they have produced a record that’s experimental, soothing and vulnerable; it’s a thing of great beauty.”
Haim are set to perform at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on April 27, as well as Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona on June 6 and Portugal on June 14. Visit here for tickets.
