The Staves - If I Was
Exquisitely sung indie folk harmonies with added new brainpower
The way I felt about The Staves’ debut, ‘Dead & Born & Grown’ when I first heard it, was in some contrast to the way I feel about it now. I couldn’t stand it; the sister trio’s carefully harmonised sonic stories washed over me without so much as yanking a single hair from my arm. However, determined not to make a rash judgement, the album accompanied me to bed one night and the rest is history. It’s potentially been my most played since. So with the advent of this, their long awaited second, I could only hope that I bloody despised it when I first pressed play. Instantly, you’re introduced to the fact that Justin Vernon – aka Bon Iver – plays role of producer on this one, like the girls had just lined him up for a handshake at the door. Even though Blood I Bled, the first track, was written long before their Wisconsin journey had even started, it has so much more musical breadth than the first, and the album continues in that vein. It’s reminiscent of when Laura Marling ditched the folk ditties in favour of something much more expansive and meandering with A Creature I Don’t Know, especially. The Staves are stretching now – the first few tracks and the last few – too numerous to mention, really have them coming out of their musical shells. Luckily, they still manage to curtail the experiment before drifting off; theirs are still neat little 3-4 minuters, with no aimless notes left spare. Tracks like Horizons and No Me, No You, No More are highlights that bridge the old and new; exquisitely sung indie folk harmonies with added new brainpower. The album does dip in the middle slightly, but if history repeats itself, that’ll probably end up being my most cherished part.
9/10
