★★★★★
The cover of If I Was, their second full-length release, shows the Stavely-Taylor sisters, Emily, Jessica and Camilla, walking away from the viewer along a wintry, tree-lined path, bundled against the cold but confidently proceeding in step towards some destination known only to them. The photo is welcoming yet also maintains a distance, a separation that says we, the viewers, may be a part of the framing of the photograph, but we will never be part of its center...
- www.popmatters.com
2015-04-17
★★★★★
Head here to submit your own review of this album.
Camilla, Emily, and Jessica, better known as The Staves, are three British sisters known for their vocal harmonies and folk goodness. Then, while touring in support of their 2012 debut, the sisters felt a need to do something different. With other European folk acts like First Aid Kit and The Rails sticking with tradition, The Staves went in another direction. They forged a bond with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver)...
- www.thefourohfive.com
2015-03-28
★★★★★
Rejoice, for spring is here and The Staves have arrived squinting and blinking in the light after two and half years in hibernation. After much touring and no time recording, the trio have nurtured their second album under the paternal tutelage of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon. Squirreled away in his Wisconsin live-in April Base Studios, Jessica, Emily and Camilla Stavely-Taylor have worked on the written material they gathered while on the road, and shaped it with Vernon's crew of wintry helpers...
- www.thelineofbestfit.com
2015-03-26
★★★★★
I've seen twice. Once was at The Gathering in Oxford, in a community centre, having never heard of them before. In that environment, prior to the release of their debut album , in late 2012, it was the unvarnished beauty of their close harmonies, the quality of their songwriting and their unaffected approach to impending stardom that really impressed. They had a great bunch of songs that were performed with a minimum of fuss. And the harmonies: they were beautiful, almost otherworldly...
- www.drownedinsound.com
2015-03-25
★★★★★
Label:
Atlantic
Release Date:
23/03/2015
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I've seen The Staves twice. Once was at The Gathering in Oxford, in a community centre, having never heard of them before. In that environment, prior to the release of their debut album Dead & Born & Grown, in late 2012, it was the unvarnished beauty of their close harmonies, the quality of their songwriting and their unaffected approach to impending stardom that really impressed...
- drownedinsound.com
2015-03-26
★★★★★
The bewitching Staves sisters return with a staggering sophomore album with none other than previous touring pal Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) handling production duties. Retreating to Vernon's Wisconsin based studio for some good 'ol fashioned artistic isolation, The Staves have emerged with a finely tuned set of twelve tracks that adds weight and scope to their already lovely noise...
- www.clashmusic.com
2015-03-25
★★★★★
Returning with a strong second effort, The Staves continue to impress with their touching harmonies, bolstering 'If I Was' even further by their increased use of strings, electric guitar and drums. You can't help but hear the wintery influences that recording in Justin Vernon's isolated Wisconsin studio has had on Emily, Jessica and Camilla's follow up to their 2012 debut, 'Dead Born & Grown'. 'Blood I Bled' opens the album with guitar licks that sound eerily like the falling of snow...
- diymag.com
2015-03-24
★★★★★
The Staves, a folk-influenced U.K. trio featuring sisters Emily, Jessica, and Camila Staveley-Taylor, made waves with their debut album, 2012's Dead & Born & Grown & Live, which put the emphasis on the siblings' vocals, both individually and in harmony, as they performed with spare acoustic arrangements...
- www.allmusic.com
2015-03-25
★★★★★
he voices are still silken, the sibling harmonies still graceful, but everything else about the Staves has changed since their 2012 debut, . That album had forthright lyrics, but bland, folk-by-numbers backing; this one is softer in its address, more introspective, yet the sound is so much bolder, the music taking thrilling leaps in character and complexity...
- www.theguardian.com
2015-03-20
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