Is it possible that The Staves are better than they think they are? It seems so. Originally signed to a major label of some reverence (Atlantic Records), it is likely that their A&R saw in them a modern version of a classic band. Quite right to. Despite upheaval, The Staves are getting better and better.
The 4th album can feel like something of a chasm to cross for any band. But for The Staves, this upcoming 4th L.P. record All Now (due March 2024) is symbolic on a number of levels. First and foremost, is the departure from the band of Emily Staveley-Taylor, leaving her sisters Jessica and Camilla to progress The Staves project as a duo.
That would be challenging enough, but since their third album Good Woman (2021) the band has also changed both their management and label, with which they had been partners for the best part of a decade. So, All Now comes out of a period of adversity, upheaval and change - and in a way it represents both preservation and progress all at once, if that’s even possible.
No pressure then! Some consistency is brought to the proceedings with the choice of John Congleton as producer (Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen and of course, Good Woman). However, with the band now writing and recording as a duo, the production of the record was by default, a very different process.
So, originally as three young sisters, uncertain of their collective talents and now a core of two - what does this band feel their position in the music scene is, compared with those early days?
“At the beginning, I didn’t feel like we were driving the car”, says Camilla. “I felt like we were being dragged along for the ride, I should have felt excited but I was actually terrified”. We hadn’t even established who we were as a band before we made our first album”. It took time to give ourselves permission to set the tone, make our voices and ideas heard and have a say in who we wanted to work with”.
Jessica adds:
“Now I look at it, and I feel like although in some ways it didn’t make sense [to be signed to Atlantic Records], it was invaluable to us - the clout they had, the branding and support we got, including tour support, the fact that it was the label of Crosby, Stills & Nash.”
Like many women creators in the (still) white male dominated music industry, the sisters bring a sense of humbleness to everything they have achieved, how they are positioned for success today and indeed, what the future holds. Is it possible that The Staves are better than they think they are? It seems so. Originally signed to Atlantic Records (just before the hypergrowth of Spotify, social media and TikTok), it is likely that their major label A&Rs saw in them a modern version of a classic rock band of old - the golden years of CSN, Carole King, Joni Mitchell et al.
And why not? Back in the golden age of music, bands all started raw, and didn’t truly hit their stride until album three or four. And they were given time to develop in that way by the infrastructure that was the music industry. Now that’s all gone but by the skin of their teeth, The Staves are through the music biz mangle, out on the other side - in control of their own destiny - and progressing steadily from album to album (second album If I Was set the bar high, but Good Woman was a revelation that took the band to a different level).
Even so, as an independent band now very much driving the car, The Staves still need to reach the audience their music deserves. So would they rather write a hit song or make a classic album?
“We’ve never had a hit record hanging over us. It’s an incredible thing to have a song that outlasts you, for your music to become bigger than you are. But the album - the body of work - is something that will endure more. It’s the album that becomes a significant soundtrack to a part of someone's life”.
In a sense then, the job is half done, even if the masterpiece is still to come. In whatever form the band takes moving forward, the potential to build their own quiet legend is very much in full force for The Staves.
All Now is released March 22nd on Communion Records pre-order now