Folk rock group The Staves consists of Emily, Jessica and Camilla, the three Staveley-Taylor sisters from Watford. They are most famous for their amazing harmonies and soaring ranges, all brought together with a vocal unity unlike any other. This tour has begun just off the back of their support stint with Florence + the Machine around the UK, at high profile venues including Alexandra Palace. After a summer of festivals and a recent Maida Vale live session for BBC 6 Music, this tour could not have come at a better time for the sisters.
Once nicknamed ‘Mumford and Daughters’, the Staves’ live vocals are something not to be missed. Despite all three having distinctive voices, they all melt together to create songs so empowering and yet so incredibly melancholy, drawn from relationship breakdowns and experiencing life on the road whilst touring. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon produced and helped record their most recent album If I Was, which was released earlier this year. Their second album has a more grown-up feel to it, partially down to the creative influence and encouragement of Vernon when the girls visited his isolated April Base studios in Wisconsin. There is also a denser sound, coming from the richness and the variety of instruments employed by Vernon. Each song contains moments of stripped-back purity, most noticeably in ‘No Me, No You, No More‘, as well as the warmth of a vocal and instrumental crescendo that seems to intensify this second album.
Support for The Staves during this tour comes from Gabriel Ríos, a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter who also doesn’t stick to one genre, which is perhaps why he makes such a perfect choice for a band like The Staves – both enjoy straying from one set point on the musical spectrum and experimenting, with undiluted vocal delicacy always shining through. The combination of his simple, echoey vocals and the sisters’ naturally beautiful voices are sure to make this show one to watch.
Tickets have sold out for this event. Doors are at 19:00.
