The soothing sounds of The Staves

A stave is one of the wooden strips that forms the side of a barrel. It is also the bedrock of Western musical notation and an Icelandic mystical symbol. From today, we can also define staves as "three girls who make the sort of music Laura Marling would make if she had been triplicated in a special human photocopying machine and stopped being a big old miseryguts all the time".

Tortured opening paragraphs aside, what I'm driving at is that The Staves are a very good, very new band made up up of three young women called Emily, Jessica and Camilla (so it's safe to assume they're not from the desolate inner city wastelands of London).

In fact, they hail from the sleepy commuter town of Watford - but listening to their music will transport you to the snow-capped mountains of Appalachia. Gentle harmonies are the order of the day here. It's exactly the sort of thing Fleet Foxes would record if (a) they had less facial hair and (b) their second album wasn't quite so disappointing.

In keeping with the incestuous nature of the British folk scene, The Staves have toured with Mumford And Sons. But they've snared two of the biggest names in the business to produce their debut album - Glyn and Ethan John, whose roster includes The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Kings Of Leon and (sound the nepotism alarm) Laura Marling.

You can get two free MP3s in exchange for your age and sex* by visiting The Staves' official website. To whet your appetite, here's their new single Mexico.

The Staves - Mexico


* I've belatedly noticed how this reads. They want to know your gender. No need to sell your body for free music. The industry's in bad enough shape as it is...

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