Days Are Gone (album)

## ***Days Are Gone***

* Physical
* Digital/Streaming

## Singles

1. "Forever"
Released: October 12th, 2012
2. "Don't Save Me"
Released: November 8th 2012
3. "Falling"
Released: February 11th 2013
4. "The Wire"
Released: August 9th 2013
5. "If I Could Change Your Mind"
Released: March 21th 2014
6. "My Song 5"
Released: August 15th 2014

## Album Chronology

***Days Are Gone*** is the debut studio album by American pop-rock band HAIM. It was released on September 27th 2013 through Polydor Records. Four singles preceded the album's release: "Forever", "Don't Save Me", "Falling", "The Wire", "If I Could Change Your Mind", and "My Song 5".

Upon its release, the album received "generally favorable" reviews from music critics. The album was also recognized as one of "The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far" by *Pitchfork* in August 2014.

## Background

The three women grew up in the San Fernando Valley, listening to the 1970s classic rock and Americana records of their music-loving parents. While they were still at school their parents formed a family band called Rockinhaim to play cover versions at local charity fairs, with Israeli-born father Mordechai ("Moti") on drums and mother Donna on guitar. Danielle and Este were members of the Valli Girls, an all-female band from Southern California that was signed to Columbia Records. Their song "Always There in You" was included on the soundtrack to the 2005 film *The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants*, while "Valli Nation" appeared on the 2005 Kids' Choice Awards soundtrack. Shortly after the band's appearance at the 2005 Kids' Choice Awards, Este and Danielle opted out of their contracts.

As they grew older, the girls became more interested in incorporating pop and contemporary R&B into their music. In 2006 they decided to form their own band. For the next five years, Haim played local venues, but did not take things further as all three sisters were busy with other projects. Este was studying at UCLA and graduated in 2010 with a degree in Ethnomusicology, completed in two years instead of the customary five. Upon graduating from high school Danielle was asked to play drums for the opening act on one of Jenny Lewis's tours, which led to Lewis asking Danielle to be her guitarist on the following tour. The Strokes' singer Julian Casablancas came to see one of Lewis's shows on that tour, and he in turn asked Danielle to play guitar and percussion on his own solo tour. She has also toured as part of Scarlet Fever, the all-female backing band for CeeLo Green. It was after Danielle had played with other artists and Este had graduated that the sisters decided that they wanted pursue their career as Haim more seriously. Youngest sister Alana spent one year in college before dropping out to join the band with her sisters.

Having played shows supporting artists such as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the Henry Clay People, and Kesha, Haim's first release was a three-song EP titled *Forever* which was made available on February 10, 2012, as a free download on their website for a brief period. The EP received a lot of attention from the music press and the general public, and following a successful gig at the South by Southwest festival in March 2012 Haim signed a deal with Polydor Records in the United Kingdom in June 2012. In July 2012 independent record label National Anthem released the *Forever* EP on 10-inch vinyl, containing the original three songs along with a fourth track, a remix of "Forever" by Dan Lissvik. All songs on the *Forever* EP were included on *Days Are Gone*, except for "Better Off". Following dates supporting Mumford & Sons on their "Gentlemen of the Road" tour in the US in August 2012, Haim made their debut tour of the UK in November 2012 and then supported Florence and the Machine on their UK and Ireland tour in December 2012.

## Critical reception

Upon its release, *Days Are Gone* received mostly positive reviews from music critics and music publications, who praised the production, songwriting and lyricism. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, indicating "generally favorable reviews". At popular music reviewing site Album Of The Year, the album was given a critic score of 76 and a user score of 78.

Writing for *Pitchfork*, Larry Fitzmaurice wrote:

> "Days Are Gone's is so polished that Haim could easily be seen as clinical and lifeless, but their lighthearted attitude complements their recording rigor.
>
>

Writing for *The Guardian*, Alexis Petridis wrote:

> "Those allergic to smooth pop-rock may find Days Are Gone hard going. Paradoxically, given this is an album of clever mash-ups, Haim's one straight-up R&B tune might actually be their best."
>
>

## Tour

*Main Article: Days Are Gone Tour*

On November 19th 2013, HAIM took to Twitter to announce that they would be going on tour from November of 2013 to May of 2014. The tour spanned 57 dates, starting on November 19th 2013 and ending on May 24th 2014. The tour was supported by Tennis, MS MR, Bleached, Jungle, and Shy Girls.

## Artwork

HAIM revealed the official album artwork for *Days Are Gone* in an announcement through the band's Facebook page.

The artwork was shot by Pierre Auroux and Tom Beard and was designed by Big Active and Marek Polewski.

Physical Standard/Deluxe EditionDigital/Streaming Standard Edition
## Singles

1. **Forever**: Released as the lead single on October 12th 2012 along with a music video.
2. **Don't Save Me**: Released as the second single on November 8th 2012 along with a music video.
3. **Falling**: Released as the third single on February 11th 2013 along with a music video.
4. **The Wire**: Released as the fourth single on August 9th 2013 along with a music video.
5. **If I Could Change Your Mind**: Released as the fifth single on March 21th 2014 along with a music video.
6. **My Song 5**: Released as the sixth and final single on August 15th 2014 along with a music video.

ForeverDon't Save MeFallingThe WireIf I Could Change Your MindMy Song 5
## Track listing

* "\*" indicates a song that contains explicit lyrics or themes.

## Gallery

* Album Photoshoot
* Artwork
* Media

**Physical Cover****Digital/Streaming Cover****CD Back Cover****Vinyl Back Cover**

## Singles

**Forever****Don't Save Me****Falling****The Wire****If I Could Change You Mind****My Song 5**
## Trivia

* "Falling" is the longest song on the album at 4 minutes and 17 seconds.
* "Days Are Gone" is the shortest song on the album at 3 minutes and 33 seconds.
* "My Song 5" is the second of 6 songs that contain explicit lyrics, the rest being "Better Off", "FUBT", "Leaning On You", "Man from the Magazine", and "All That Ever Mattered".
	+ The song is not marked as explicit on streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify.
* "The Wire" is the most streamed song from the album on Spotify.
* "Running If You Call My Name" is the least streamed song from the album on Spotify.
* The album debuted at number 6 on the *Billboard* 200 upon its release.
	+ The album also debuted with an estimated 26,000 copies sold in the first week.
* "The Wire" was the first song ever written for the album, dating back to 2008.

## References

1. ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/days-are-gone/681237313
2. ↑ https://www.spin.com/2013/09/haim-days-are-gone-columbia/
https://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9465-the-top-100-albums-of-2010-2014/
4. ↑ https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/discovery-haim
5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20130912190320/http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/band-of-the-week-haim/#1
6. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/music/days-are-gone/haim
7. ↑ https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/8874-haim-days-are-gone.php
8. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18574-haim-days-are-gone/
9. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/26/haim-days-are-gone-review
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/HAIMtheband/status/402833206061588481
11. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/haim-announces-2014-tour-dates-5793327/#!
12. ↑ https://www.gigwise.com/news/86216/
13. ↑ https://www.gigwise.com/news/86216/
14. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/haim-announces-2014-tour-dates-5793327/#!
15. ↑ https://www.audiofemme.com/live-review-haim-the-wiltern-l-a/
16. ↑ https://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/haim-ms-mr
17. ↑ https://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-31436-shy-girls-hitting-the-road-with-haim.html
18. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/haimtheband/photos/pb.100044547331403.-2207520000../10151488812491841/?type=3
19. ↑ *Days Are Gone* (liner notes). HAIM. Polydor Records. 2013. 3750814.
20. ↑ https://music.apple.com/gb/album/days-are-gone-deluxe-edition/1440860284
21. ↑ https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/UICP-1159
22. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Ui2kfOqGujY81UcPrb5KE
23. ↑ https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Ui2kfOqGujY81UcPrb5KE
24. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/haim-announces-2014-tour-dates-5793327/#!
25. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/haim-announces-2014-tour-dates-5793327/#!
26. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=167iSiTrjt0&t=15s