Kevin Bronson on July 31st, 2019

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When we last spotted Danielle, Alana and Este Haim, they were striding purposefully down the middle of Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, a place now recognized by students of modern culture as the center of the universe. Director Paul Thomas Anderson captured those memorable moments one beautiful Los Angeles dawn.

The sister trio works with Anderson again on the video for their new single “Summer Girl,” their first new single since their sophomore album “Something to Tell You” two years ago. They’re still striding purposefully — gradually getting more summery by peeling off layers of clothes — only now they are trailed by saxophonist Henry Solomon. And their geographic base expands: from Melrose Street to a theater on Beverly Boulevard to Canter’s Deli on Fairfax and finally back to Ventura Boulevard, the center of the universe.

We jest about location, but the song — a jazzy bop vaguely reminiscent of Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” — has a serious side. “I started the song when I found out my partner had cancer,” Danielle Haim says. “I was on tour and felt like I was trying to send positive energy his way almost telepathically. Whenever I would come home in between shows I wanted to be his sunshine — his summer when he was feeling dark. His hope when he was feeling hopeless.”

The tune, which the band premiered live at their recent Teragram Ballroom show, was produced by Rostam Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid.

||| Watch: The video for “Summer Girl”