Single girl summer is upon us — and what better way to usher in the season than new Haim music? Well, the Haim sisters have an answer: album artwork inspired by the sunny disposition of some of the most famous celebrity paparazzi shots from the early aughts. It’s quite the perfect nod for the Los Angeles rockers.
It started with an iconic reference to an equally iconic picture from pop culture history. For the release of lead single “Relationships,” Haim recreated the 2001 candid of Nicole Kidman walking down a nondescript Hollywood street, basking in the L.A. sun with a look of absolute relief on her face. As legend has it, the photo was snapped right after Kidman signed divorce papers, officially shutting the chapter on her marriage to Tom Cruise.
For their take, photographed by Terrence O’Connor, all three Haim sisters (Danielle, Este, and Alana) are seen smiling and walking down what appears to be the same California pavement that Kidman skipped across. It’s a wonderful visual representation of how much Haim “can’t stand fuckin’ relationships” and want to be unburdened by the expectations they come with. While Kidman set the record straight and claimed the picture was actually from the set of a movie (one she did not name), the lore behind the original shot has long outshone the (potential) truth. And there’s nothing that sums up newfound freedom like finally ridding yourself of a toxic relationship and skipping down the street with glee, so we’ll choose to believe it.
Haim has kept the references coming. The artwork for their new single “Everybody’s Trying to Figure Me Out” also emulates yet another shot of an early paparazzi favorite and “It” girl: Kate Moss. In November 2000, Moss was spotted in rare form when the trendsetting supermodel was spotted leaning against a black SUV, soaking up some rays (sunglasses in her hands, rather than on her face) with windswept hair and a simple, striped long-sleeve shirt on. To make the picture even stranger, the backseat door of the car is open and another backseat passenger’s leg is just barely visible. It’s almost as if Moss simply had to pull over and take in the sunshine for a second. (Relatable.)
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Something about Moss taking a moment to herself, and being captured doing so by paparazzi, clearly spoke to the Haim sisters. They recreated this image, again with the help of O’Connor, with Danielle imitating Moss, while Este’s face and, supposedly, Alana’s knee linger in the backseat of the car. In an Instagram post about the new song, Danielle wrote, “Writing it has gotten me through some hard times, and we felt this might be of some use to get our vibes right for this summer… After a lot of reflecting I realized I’ve let a lot of people try and tell me how I should live my life, but I realized in making everyone else happy, I lost myself.”
Some fans online have been speculating on which paparazzi-worthy moment from the 2000s the Haim sisters will reimagine next. Will it be the infamous photo of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and Lindsay Lohan driving together, or maybe a picture of that time Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz carried a bottle of champagne through the streets of New York City? (I know, not L.A.). Whatever it may be, it’s sure to invoke the golden-hued liberation of summer.
