Women in Music Pt. III

Women in Music Pt. III is the third studio album by American rock band Haim. It was released on June 26, 2020, in the United States by Columbia Records and internationally by Polydor Records. The album was originally set for release on April 24, 2020, but was delayed due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and "the changing nature of travel policies and quarantines across the world." The release was later moved to June 26. It was produced by Danielle Haim, Rostam Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid, and was preceded by the singles "Summer Girl", "Now I'm in It" and "Hallelujah". The song "The Steps" was released alongside the album pre-order.

Before its official announcement, Women in Music Pt. III was named one of the most anticipated albums of 2020 by several outlets, including Pitchfork and Vulture. The album received widespread critical acclaim, with critics praising its honest and vulnerable lyrics and its experimentation with a wide range of genres, while also paying homage to several other artists. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 63rd Grammy Awards, while "The Steps" was nominated for Best Rock Performance.

Background and composition

The trio initially teased the album with the abbreviation WIMPIII on their social media, jokingly offering a "free T-shirt" to anybody who could guess what it stood for or who had an answer that made them laugh.

After touring in support of their previous album, Something to Tell You (2017), the band experienced various personal struggles, including unprocessed grief from the death of Alana's best friend in a car accident in 2012, Este's struggles with type 1 diabetes, and Danielle's depression as well as her partner Ariel Rechtshaid's cancer diagnosis. They channeled these experiences into their music, with "an unflinching honesty" and "intimately familiar with depression in all its states". True to the album's title, many songs discuss the misogyny the band faces in the music industry; for example "Man from the Magazine" is a tongue-in-cheek Joni Mitchell–esque song about the casually sexist questions asked of them by journalists.

The album cover was shot at Canter's Deli in Los Angeles by Paul Thomas Anderson, who also directed the music videos for all three singles and "The Steps", as well as for later directing the 2021 film Licorice Pizza which starred Alana.

Women in Music Pt. III is a primarily soft rock album that features elements of folk-pop, hip hop, reggae, lo-fi, heartland rock, dance, country rock, UK garage, electropop, free jazz, funk, 1990s R&B, as well as 1970s and 1980s pop. Danielle Haim cited Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) as a key source of influence for the band that inspired the eclectic nature of their album. She explained, "We thought it would be cool to make a body of work that didn't adhere to specific rules or genre, like they did."

Release

The album's first single, "Summer Girl", preceded the album by several months, becoming the first of three (at the time) standalone singles released that same year, along with "Now I'm in It" and "Hallelujah", with a music video for each release, all directed by frequent collaborator Paul Thomas Anderson.

Interesting, the vinyl pressing LP is meant to be played at 45 rpm, historically used only for singles (45's).

Used in this way, it creates higher quality audio reproduction due to the faster rotation, which can allow for more information to be etched into the grooves of the vinyl.

Critical reception

Women in Music Pt. III was met with universal acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 89, based on 23 reviews. The album was a New York Times Critic's Pick and was featured on Pitchfork's Best New Music.

Many critics noted the trio's use of new sounds and exploration of new genres on the album. Writing for Pitchfork, Aimee Cliff called it "Haim as we haven't quite heard them before: not just eminently proficient musicians, entertainers, and 'women in music,' but full of flaws and contradictions, becoming something much greater." Cliff wrote that the album "eschew[s] Haim's usual summery rock to find the right genre for the mood", sometimes mixing multiple genres within the same track. Lindsay Zoladz, writing for The New York Times, remarked that the record "clears a welcome path forward for the group's sound," cautioning that "every so often they overstuff the arrangements with one too many sonic quirks or spoken-word bridges, but more often than not their risks are rewarding." Reviewing in his "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau applauded Batmanglij for enhancing the band's compositions, in which, "from booty calls to dreams so much sweeter than what anyone wakes up to in this cruel time, the lyrics evoke the pains and complexities of the single life each of these seamless siblings is obliged to face alone after all."

In July 2020, the album was included on Entertainment Weekly and Slant Magazine's list of the best albums of 2020 so far.

Accolades

On November 24, 2020, the album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, marking the band's first nomination in that category. The single "The Steps" was also nominated for Best Rock Performance, marking the group's first nomination in that category as well.

Commercial performance

Women in Music Pt. III entered at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 17,762 copies in its opening week. The album became the band's second number one album in the UK after their debut album Days Are Gone in 2013. In Ireland, the album entered and peaked at number five in the album charts, becoming their 3rd top five album in the country.

In Australia, the album entered at number seven on the album charts, becoming their third Top 10 album. In the United States, Women in Music Pt. III debuted and peaked at number thirteen on the US Billboard 200, making the album the group's third Top 20 record.

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Danielle Haim, Rostam Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid, except where noted.

Notes

• "Summer Girl" contains a portion of the song "Walk on the Wild Side", written by Lou Reed.

Personnel

All track numbers refer to the digital, CD and cassette releases of the album.

Charts

Certifications

Notes

External links

• at Discogs (list of releases)