The Staves – “Devotion”

Sequoia Ziff

The Staves – “Devotion”

Sequoia Ziff

The Staves are a couple weeks out from the release of Good Woman, their first album since 2017’s yMusic collab The Way Is Read and their first proper Staves LP since 2015’s masterful If I Was. They’ve shared quite a bit of music from the sessions already, including the title track, “Trying,” “Satisfied,” and the non-album B-side “Nazareth.” Today they’ve got one more tune to reveal before the full album drops.

“Devotion” begins with finger snaps, piano, and a strong fluttery vocal. Eventually the Stavely-Taylor sisters’ trademark harmonies work their way into the arrangement, as do subtle low-end pulses that lend the song momentum while maintaining a sense of weary fragility. The song finds the sisters lamenting “life in the backseat”; at one point their frustrations boil over and they declare, “I could blow those fucking windows out.” In a statement, the band explains, “This song came from a feeling of being totally at the mercy of someone else. Being a passenger and never a driver in any situation. Being blinded by devotion and unable to navigate the way out.”

Listen below.

Good Woman is out 2/5 on Nonesuch. The Staves are playing a livestreamed album release show from the London venue Lafayette on release day; tickets are available here.

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