The Staves - Dead & Born & Grown
The Staves release their debut album, ‘Dead & Born & Grown’ on the 12th November 2012 through Atlantic Records.
"I think being sung to is the nicest thing in the world. There’s nothing more comforting or enjoyable." Emily Staveley-Taylor, eldest of the three sisters who comprise The Staves, is attempting to distil the band’s appeal. "And I would hope," she adds gently, "that this is what people feel when they hear us sing."
2012 has found The Staves mapping their upward trajectory on the road, spending the best part of each month shared equally between North America and the UK. US and Canadian tours with Bon Iver, The Civil Wars, and as part of the Communion promoted 'Austin to Boston' tour alongside Ben Howard has been interspersed with their own headline UK tours and a busy Summer of festival performances.
Upon this debut album’s release, the band will head across the arenas of Europe and the UK as special guests to new friends and fans, Bon Iver.
The Staves’ songwriting is as striking as it is exquisite, a melding of still, bright English folk and sublime West Coast pop that, performed live, is capable of plunging an audience into awed silence.
Such are those mesmerising harmonies, that renowned producers Glyn and Ethan Johns (whose combined credits include the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Joan Armatrading, Ryan Adams, Ray LaMontagne, Kings of Leon, and Laura Marling to name but a few) found The Staves’ talents so compelling that they both independently tracked the band down. ‘Dead & Born & Grown’ will be the first record on which father and son have shared production credits.
The musical evolution of The Staves - Emily, Jessica and Camilla - has been a slow, steady process; an adventure that began in the stew of family car journeys, sing-alongs, and squabbles over the stereo, and immersed in the music of artists like Feist, Fleet Foxes, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, and The Beatles. "There was always music in the house and we always sang,"Jessica remembers.
"Mum and Dad weren’t professional musicians or anything but they were always into music and would sing, and play both the guitar and piano. Lots of harmonies."
With many of their friends in bands, The Staves were soon cajoled into taking part in an open mic night at their local pub, The Horns in Watford. They played covers mostly: Crosby Stills and Nash’s ‘Helplessly Hoping’, Neil Young’s ‘After The Gold Rush’, and ‘Landslide’ by Stevie Nicks.
"We really enjoyed it," Camilla recalls. "So that summer we started to do more. And gradually we began to think maybe we should write our own songs."
In the beginning The Staves’ songwriting style owed much to the artists they admired, but over time they struck upon a sound that is undeniably their own. "Our vocal arrangements have a lot to do with it," Says Emily, "When we’re writing a song it suddenly gets to a place where it's ours, sung in a three-part harmony."
The vocal arrangements are indeed something that marks out The Staves, a mingling of dusky sweetness and high, beaming radiance. "Oh yeah," Emily laughs, "we're definitely better together than apart. It's weird, we've all got really different voices."
The band explain how their voices seem to fall in order of age, with Emily's the lowest, Jessica's somewhere in the middle and youngest sister Camilla's somewhat higher.
‘Dead & Born & Grown’ is a record that showcases their songwriting and their voices to quietly beautiful effect. Featuring recent EP tracks ‘Mexico’, ‘Pay Us No Mind’, and ‘Wisely & Slow’, long-standing live favourites ‘Facing West’ and ‘Winter Trees’ receive their proper studio time and are as affecting on tape as they are up on stage.
It is an album that encapsulates exactly where The Staves are at, as they weave themselves through state to state, and county to county.
Tracklisting: Wisely & Slow/Gone Tomorrow/The Motherlode/Pay Us No Mind/Facing West/In The Long Run/Dead & Born & Grown/Winter Trees/Tongue Behind My Teeth/Mexico/Snow/Eagle Song/I Know You Well
The Staves Live:
8th November - London, Wembley Arena (with Bon Iver)
9th November - Manchester, MEN Arena (with Bon Iver)
10th November - Glasgow, SECC (with Bon Iver)
12th November - Dublin, The O2 (with Bon Iver)
18th November - Bristol, Thekla
19th November - London, Village Underground
20th November - Brighton, Komedia
21st November - Leeds, The Wardrobe
23rd November - Edinburgh, Pleasance Theatre
24th November - Belfast, Limelight
25th November - Dublin, Whelans
27th November - Manchester, Ruby Lounge
28th November - Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
29th November - Nottingham, Bodega