The Staves

If I Was
The Staves
Nonesuch/Atlantic Records

It’s all in the family for The Staves. Sisters Emily, Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor hail from Watford, England and for the last handful of years, they’ve attracted attention thanks to their beautiful voices and exquisite harmonies. Although showing promise on their 2012 debut, Dead & Born & Grown, a live album, and a handful of EPs, The Staves have finally turned a big artistic corner with their second album, If I Was.

Their choice of producer was certainly helpful. The Staves reached out to Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and he proved to be the perfect collaborator to guide this album. If I Was is a collection of songs that deal with all aspects of love and matters of the heart. Recorded at Vernon’s cozy Eau Claire studio, April Base, If I Was is a heavenly blend of soft, billowy folk and grand anthems of yearning, desire and heartbreak.

The sisters’ angelic vocals and intricate harmonies offer vulnerability and defiance on If I Was. “No Me, No You, No More” evokes chills as the Staveley-Taylor trio sings lines like: “Now I can’t go back to life before/before I knew/that you didn’t love me no more/you didn’t need me no more/you didn’t love me no more/you didn’t want me at all.”

Their otherworldly three-part harmonies cascade over a hypnotic drone that segues into the acoustic guitar beginning of “Let Me Down.” It’s a hauntingly beautiful moment. Pounding drums and electric guitar drive “Black & White,” but “Damn It All” is the album’s epic piece: a perfect marriage of Vernon’s sonic touch and the sisters’ music, words and harmonies. “Teeth White” deals with efforts to please others instead of oneself. “I got my teeth white and my jeans tight,” sings The Staves. “I got my hair long, and it’s still wrong. And I wanna know, when I can stop.”

Horns punctuate If I Was, but the brass is not intended to stand prominently in the mix. That spot is reserved for Camilla, Emily and Jessica’s clear voices. Instead, the horns are used as a musical wash, flowing beneath the other instruments and complementing the arrangements. When the brass does come forward, it’s mesmerizing, as on “Horizons.”

If I Was is perhaps the most achingly beautiful album released this year. Discovering toughness and tenderness concurrently on this handsome release, The Staves are bright stars illuminating the pop music landscape.