Joanna The Staves have released their new single, “I Don’t Say It, But I Feel It,” the latest track from their upcoming album, All Now, due March 22.
“This was the first song we recorded for the album, and we had just written it so there’s a freshness and an immediacy to it for us,” The Staves’ Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor say. “The song is about passing surges of emotions and memories that often don’t get expressed or articulated. It’s exploring that state of stillness on the outside but with a flurry of things happening below the surface and how, often, we don’t let on what we’re really feeling most of the time or how much we’re feeling it. Even the question ‘how are you?’ can prove difficult to find the answer to … The song came from a train ride down to Brighton with friends with the scenery whizzing by – the transient flashes as things come in and out of focus. The song is built around this two-chord pattern that kind of chugs along and motors through, picking out these jolts of feeling or memory that rush by. “
The Staves will join Nickel Creek as special guests on tour of the US Midwest and South in February. The two-week tour kicks off in Iowa City on February 6, with stops in Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Florida. As the Nickel Creek’s tour continues, The Staves begin their own US headline tour—their first since 2017—in Washington, DC, on April 7, with shows in New York City, Cambridge, Toronto, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles; details below. For all the latest, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
Produced by John Congleton (Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen), All Now features the tracks “You Held It All” and “All Now,” both released earlier this fall; a video for the latter, directed by James Arden and inspired by the influential British music television program Old Grey Whistle Test, can be seen here:
All Now, available to pre-order here, emerges from a period of chaos for the band that was followed by a period of enforced quiet. The Staves released their third album, Good Woman, in February 2021; it was an album of love and loss, written during a disconcerting period of turmoil and pain. “There was a delayed reaction to trauma and these big changes out of your control,” says Jess of the period that came after Good Woman, as the band—like the rest of us—were forced to sit with their thoughts.
The Staveley-Taylors were also still processing the death of their mother and other seismic changes: Emily took a backseat on this album (while still contributing vocals on a handful of tracks) to focus on motherhood, while Camilla reckoned with her own mental and physical health issues, including chronic pain and a series of operations due to endometriosis, which began to take an increasing toll.
Struggling after two years of deep solitude and pain following the release of Good Woman, The Staves did what they know how to do best: they got back to writing with the idea of going back to basics and focusing almost solely on each other and their guitars as a starting point.
It began with Jess, navigating this new landscape by harnessing her creativity on her own, at first in the studio in Hackney at the end of 2022, then slowly luring Camilla back to the next chapter of The Staves, before reaching out to Congleton, who the band had worked with on Good Woman. You can hear it here and watch a lyric video here:
THE STAVES US TOUR WITH NICKEL CREEK
Feb 6 Hancher Auditorium Iowa City, IA
Feb 7 Overture Hall Madison, WI
Feb 9 Hoyt Sherman Place Des Moines, IA
Feb 10 Murat Theatre Indianapolis, IN
Feb 12 Peoria Civic Center Peoria, IL
Feb 13 Kalamazoo State Theatre Kalamazoo, MI
Feb 15 Wexner Center Mershon Auditorium Columbus, OH
Feb 16 Clyde Theatre Fort Wayne, IN
Feb 17 The Louisville Palace Louisville, KY
Feb 19 Durham Performing Arts Center Durham, NC
Feb 20 Miller Theater Augusta, GA
Feb 21 Florida Theatre Jacksonville, FL
THE STAVES NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
Apr 7 Union Stage Washington, DC
Apr 8 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
Apr 11 The Sinclair Cambridge, MA
Apr 13 The Opera House Toronto, ON
Apr 15 Lincoln Hall Chicago, IL
Apr 16 Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
Apr 19 Tractor Tavern Seattle, WA
Apr 20 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, OR
Apr 22 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
Apr 24 Troubadour West Hollywood, CA
