I quit

Album ∙ Alternative ∙ 2025

HAIM

Even though HAIM named their fourth studio album—and first since 2020’s Women in Music, Pt. III—I quit, the trio of sisters aren’t quitters. “Quitting can be looked at as giving up in normal circumstances,” bassist/vocalist Este Haim tells Apple Music. “We look at it as a new beginning and betting on yourself. We quit things that don’t serve us anymore.”

The follow-up to their Grammy-nominated opus takes its name from a scene in 1996’s That Thing You Do! where the band’s leader announces his departure by snapping his fingers and sing-talking the words “I quit”—a move the women use regularly as an inside joke. “One day, we were checking the mic and we did it again,” Este adds. “We were like, ‘Wait, should we name our album I quit? Say that again.’ ‘Wait a minute. Should we?’ It took on a life of its own.”

Produced by Rostam and lead vocalist/guitarist Danielle Haim, the band’s latest takes parting shots at the people in their lives who have seemingly done them wrong. (And with single artwork inspired by paparazzi pics—most famously for “Relationships,” a cheeky take on the iconic post-divorce Nicole Kidman photo—the Haims aren’t just speaking to their romantic follies but the celebrity and industry machine at large.) Appropriately, the opening track “Gone” samples the George Michael smash “Freedom! ’90,” setting the tone for the album’s message: liberation from anything and everything that may have restrained them. “I’ll do whatever I want/I’ll see who I wanna see/I’ll fuck off whenever I want/I’ll be whatever I need,” Danielle intones.

Their songs range from groovy (“Down to be wrong”) to nostalgic (“Take me back”), dreamy (“Lucky stars”), and bluesy (“Blood on the street”). “All over me” feels straight out of a ’90s rom-com montage, and “The farm” gives off a Sheryl Crow-infused vibe. The contemplative “Everybody’s trying to figure me out”—co-written by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon—also offers a meditation on self-acceptance: “Everybody’s got their own decisions, and I know that I’ve got mine/And I’ll be fine.”

Ultimately, though, the sibling rockers see their new work as fit for the stage, and that’s important to how they create their music, Este explains: “We always think about our live show when we are writing songs, because that’s really where our heart is—playing live.”