Marcel Winatschek

Before the Album, Before Everything

Falling was circling before HAIM had properly arrived—part of that early run of songs that made you feel like you were getting in just ahead of the crowd. Three sisters from the San Fernando Valley, harmonies that sound like they were worked out in childhood and never needed revision, a rhythm section that refuses to let the sadness settle. The song circles a particular kind of heartbreak without ever pushing it too hard. You feel it more on the third listen than the first.