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Now Hear This: The Staves | Good Woman

I'm getting caught up on the good albums that have come out lately. Like this one.

THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “English trio The Staves — sisters Emily, Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor — have released their first new album in six years, Good Woman.

Good Woman was written and recorded in a time of tremendous turmoil and change for the band, between the ending of relationships, the death of their beloved mother, and the birth of Emily’s first child. Produced by John Congleton, the album is a testament to the Stavely-Taylors’ strength and that of other women; to sisters, mothers, and daughters; to love, loss, and change; and to trying to be a good woman.

The band explain: “We have been working on this for a long time and are thrilled to share the title track. When we think about making this album we think about moments and snapshots of all the different contexts we were in as it was made. Living in each other’s pockets and then living with oceans between us. Of voice notes and field recordings and ideas in emails sent across continents. We think of homesickness and family. Of being an outsider. Of endless notebooks and scraps of paper. Of studios in the winter and recordings under the summer sun. Of rainy London days and long American nights with coffees and beers, dogs, and cats. We think of love. Big, big love. Our Mum. Our Dad. Our friends. And of loss. Death and birth. Womanhood, motherhood. Sisterhood. And coming home.”

The sisters have been busy in the six years since the release of their acclaimed second album If I Was. Jessica contributed vocals to Leonard Cohen’s final, posthumous record Thanks for The Dance, which was produced by his son, Adam Cohen. And all three sang on a handful of tracks for Paul Weller’s recent album On Sunset, in addition to performing with artists like Lucy Rose, Bon Iver and Flyte over the years.”