* En anglais uniquement
Taking a cue from youthful folk revivalists like
Laura Marling,
Mountain Man, and
the Pierces, Watford, England's
the Staves blend the wistful cadences of classic British folk with breezy, Laurel Canyon-era pop. They made their full-length debut with
Dead & Born & Grown in 2012.
Bon Iver's
Justin Vernon produced the follow-up, 2015's
lf I Was, and 2021's
Good Woman saw them work with producer
John Congleton on a set partly inspired by both loss and childbirth.
The trio formed in 2009 around the talents of sisters
Emily (vocals),
Jessica (vocals/guitar), and
Camilla Staveley-Taylor (vocals/ukulele), who first learned to harmonize by singing along with their parents' record collection, dominated by the likes of
Simon & Garfunkel and
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Emily was only 14 years old when the siblings made their live debut at a neighborhood pub's open-mike night, but they were well-received and began appearing on a regular basis.
The Staves released their debut EP, Facing West, in 2010, the same year they performed as backing vocalists on
Tom Jones' 2010 gospel collection
Praise & Blame.
The year 2011 produced a pair of EPs,
Live at Cecil Sharp House and
Mexico, which brought them to the attention of the major labels. The siblings signed with Atlantic Records and, capitalizing on the buzz created by their well-received debuts, they spent the beginning of 2012 supporting acts
the Civil Wars and
Bon Iver in North America. Arriving later that year, their first full-length outing,
Dead & Born & Grown, was produced by
Glyn and
Ethan Johns. 2014 saw the release of another EP,
Blood I Bled. The title track was a preview of the album
If I Was, which was produced by
Justin Vernon and released in February 2015. It landed them in the Top 20 of the Billboard Americana/Folk and Heatseekers Albums charts, and resulted in a tour with
Florence + the Machine and an appearance at Glastonbury. The EP
Sleeping in a Car followed in 2016, and a year later, Nonesuch issued
The Way Is Read, a collaboration with chamber group
yMusic that featured both
Staves originals and reworked
yMusic compositions.
They spent the latter part of 2018 touring the U.K. with
First Aid Kit, another indie folk act comprising sisters. However, it was the death of their mother -- as well as the birth of
Emily's daughter -- that led to the slowdown of their public appearances in the period that followed. Their vocals appeared on a number of tracks from
Paul Weller's mid-2020 LP On Sunset before previews of their third full-length began appearing online in the second half of the year. The
John Congleton-produced
Good Woman followed in February 2021. ~ James Christopher Monger & Marcy Donelson