Haim Relive Pop-Rock’s Heyday in ‘If I Could Change Your Mind’ Video
With a backdrop that’s equal parts American Bandstand and a vintage Calvin Klein cologne ad, Haim relive the sweet spot between the Me Decade and the Eighties in their video for the Days Are Gone track “If I Could Change Your Mind.” In one scene, they have a swirly, illuminated logo behind them in a mostly red room à la Soul Train and, in others, they snap their fingers above their heads in the dark and clap and shimmy and act out corny, melodramatic, fun dance routines with only a dash of irony. But that’s because Haim have taken it upon themselves to have corny fun while also enjoying a smidgen of irony.
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Throughout their debut LP, Days Are Gone, the sisters play on musical tropes from a different era – the cusp between the Eighties and the Nineties when snare drums cracked and synths imbued everything – but maybe because they’ve built those styles into their own brand of dancey pop-rock, their dance routine fits right in. The song is one of the catchiest on the album and it bears all the hallmarks of good dance-rock: sweeping synth lines, Nile Rodgers-like guitars, clattering drum machine and lyrics about misunderstood love. And because it’s not too heavy-handed, the sisters only add to it with their wind-milling arm dances, tight circle of clapping and Charlie’s Angels-esque silhouette breaks throughout the video. They know that changing minds is always a lot easier when everyone is having fun.