Summer Girl (Haim song)

"Summer Girl" is a song by American band Haim, released as a single on July 31, 2019.[1] It premiered as Annie Mac's "Hottest Record" on BBC Radio 1.[2] The song musically references “Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed, who is credited as a songwriter.[3]

"Summer Girl"
Single by Haim
from the album Women in Music Pt. III
ReleasedJuly 31, 2019 (2019-07-31)
Genre
Length3:25
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Ariel Rechtshaid
  • Danielle Haim
  • Rostam Batmanglij
Haim singles chronology
"Saturdays"
(2018)		 "Summer Girl"
(2019)		 "Now I'm in It"
(2019)
Music video
"Summer Girl" on YouTube

Background and writing

In a post to social media on July 30, Danielle Haim revealed that the track started as a GarageBand demo on her phone. The lyrics were inspired by producer and Danielle Haim's boyfriend Ariel Rechtshaid's cancer diagnosis during the making of their second album, Something to Tell You; Haim said that during the band's time off from touring, she wanted to be Rechtshaid's "hope when he was feeling hopeless" and a "light that shined on him when he was feeling very dark", which led to her singing "I'm your summer girl" over the demo's bass line. She asked friend and musician Rostam Batmanglij for help, and he wrote a saxophone part for the song. The saxophone part was adapted from the 1969 song Sing Me a Song That I Know by Blodwyn Pig. After he and Haim thought the melody sounded like "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed, he added bass guitar effects that mimicked the sound of the track. Haim then brought the song to Rechtshaid, who added final effects to the song.[1]

Critical reception

Pitchfork named the song the Best New Track, with staff writer Michelle Kim describing it as having a "jazzier palette than Haim's usual guitar-forward funk-pop", calling it "sweetly plaintive" and saying that with the lines "You walk beside me, not behind me/Feel my unconditional love", "Danielle positions herself as a rock for her partner and invokes the age-old belief: Love has the power to heal."[4]

Promotion

Haim debuted the track at a concert at the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on July 17.[5] After performing the track live, the group shared a snippet of the song being played in the studio on social media. They later posted that it would be released later in the week.[6]

Music video

The music video premiered on YouTube on July 31, 2019. It marks the band once again collaborating with director Paul Thomas Anderson, and features the group walking the streets of Los Angeles, the band's hometown. The video presents a slightly longer mix of the song, running at a total time of 3 minutes and 52 seconds.[7]

Personnel

Musicians

  • Danielle Haim – vocals, drums, bass programming
  • Alana Haim – guitar, background vocals
  • Este Haim – upright bass
  • Rostam Batmanglij – acoustic guitar, slide guitar, organ, synthesizer, shaker, drum programming
  • Ariel Rechtshaid – drums, tambourine
  • Henry Solomon – saxophone

Technical

  • Ariel Rechtshaid – recording, mixing
  • Rostam Batmanglij – recording, mixing
  • Chris Kasych – recording
  • Grace Banks – recording
  • John DeBold – recording
  • Michael Harris – recording
  • Nate Head – recording
  • Shawn Everett – mixing

Charts
Chart (2019) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[8] 19
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[9] 15
UK Download (Official Charts Company)[10] 88
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[11] 27
US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[12] 25
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gollark: Except it's the "web runtime".

References
  1. Richards, Will (July 30, 2019). "'I wanted to be his hope when he was feeling hopeless' – Danielle Haim reveals Haim's new single 'Summer Girl' is out tomorrow and inspired by her partner's cancer diagnosis". NME. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  2. Ackroyd, Stephen (July 31, 2019). "Haim's brand new, seasonally appropriate single 'Summer Girl' is here". Dork. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  3. Summer Girl by Haim, retrieved 2019-11-14
  4. Kim, Michelle (July 31, 2019). "Haim: "Summer Girl" by Haim Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  5. Bloom, Madison (July 18, 2019). "Watch Haim Debut New Song 'Summer Girl'". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  6. Kenneally, Cerys (July 29, 2019). "Haim to release new single "Summer Girl" this week". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  7. "HAIM – Summer Girl (Official Video)". Retrieved July 31, 2019 – via YouTube.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Haim – Summer Girl" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  9. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  10. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  11. "Haim Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  12. "Haim Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
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