The World is Encouraged to Be the Fourth Haim Sisters Bandmate.
"Any idea when you're chatting with Haim?" a message reads. "My request was to ask if I can be their extra sister."
There is only a key snag: I also longs to be Haim's fourth member. What's more, we are far from alone. Multiple famous fans have publicly begged for the position.
It's clear something is going on. Sisters Este, Danielle and Alana started their path playing gigs at small eateries with their family. Today, they are repeated Grammy nominees.
In the tradition of the most iconic bands, they're a inseparable unit. Their visuals repeatedly feature them walking in unison down the roads of Los Angeles. On stage, they jam with such boundless joy you inevitably think, "I wish to be involved in that, too."
"How often on tour that young girls told us and said, 'Watching you live, I picked up a guitar'," remarks Alana, the youngest of the trio. "That is the greatest honour. That's an award in itself. Our mission is accomplished if we can encourage young girls to start a band."
"And thus all are welcome to be the next Haim sister."
Grammy Milestone
The band have called into their homes, where they're taking a pause after an lengthy tour in for their fourth album, I Quit.
They're currently reeling from the news it's been in the running for best rock album at the Grammy Awards – with Haim the pioneering all-female band ever in contention for the prize.
"I watch the announcements every year, so it kind of feels like an out-of-body experience when your name is called," notes Alana. "I had to call my sisters to say, 'Did we just hear this correctly or am I imagining things'?"
The significance of the accolade is deeply felt by the sisters.
"We deliberately set out to make a guitar-driven album this time, so it's a major milestone," continues Alana. "However we're just thankful for the women that came before us."
Emotional Upheaval and Laughter
The project emerged from a period of transition. All three sisters found themselves single, and the music inhabits that unique in-between place where you're glad to be free, but not yet ready to move on.
The words follow breakups and partings. The sisters desire love, but not the specific love they've experienced. You can hear them working out in real time who they aspire to be.
"That's a perfect way of putting it, yes," agrees Danielle. "I Quit is kind of like a personal statement. You have to make an effort in shutting out the outside opinions and saying, 'I don't give what people think'."
Refinement of Sound
That recent resilience called for a new sound – more unpolished and immediate than anything the band had done before.
For Danielle, who helped produce the album, that was founded on the drum sound.
"Percussion is such a specific thing, and I am so passionate about it," she emphasizes.
"'Journey of the drum sound' will be the subject of our book," jokes Alana. "Our motto is, our albums cannot begin until we find the perfect drum sound."
Stories and Collective Laughter
The trio's honesty fueled the album's rollout, where the sisters disclosed some of their personal misadventures.
A former partner left Este over a health consideration. Alana told a story of travelling to celebrate New Year's Eve with someone, only to receive a friendly slap at midnight.
"When you're going through these heartbreaks, you just feel like there's no light," explains Alana. "Therefore to be able to laugh at those stories and have them tell you wilder stories, it's so amazing."
An Assured Future
You can clearly sense a change in the band. Now, Haim are more assured of their place in the rock pantheon.
They're festival headliners, with successful albums and an worldwide fan base.
But the sister act will forever be their number one priority.
"Me and my siblings have been playing music since I was little," concludes Alana. "There is nothing else that we were meant to do. And I'm really thankful we've gotten here and we're still making music."