The Staves have announced their forthcoming new album ‘All Now’ with its intimate, unfiltered, and emotionally charged title track – a breathtakingly visceral, brutally honest and cinematic slow burn that rages like a rallying cry for the disillusioned.
Stream: “All Now” – The Staves
Show the scars on your stomach, show the hurt on your sleevе, rub their faces in the dirt, givе them something to believe in. Do what you want, just be aggressively free…
“Unencumbered and fast as lightning,” The Staves’ are unleashed.
Offering a refreshing twist on their familiar folk sound, “All Now” is the ultimate cinematic slow burn, and the more I listen to it – to the passion in their voices; to the raw heat of those synths, and the unrelenting urgency in the drums – the deeper I fall in love with this new era of the Staveley-Taylor sisters’ band.
Still the value on the package
and the camera on the skin
Still the focus on the eye,
not the biscuit, just the tin
And I’m standing here,
screaming, “Where do we begin?
Where do we begin? Where do we begin?”
The second single and title track off The Staves’ forthcoming fourth studio album All Now (due out March 22, 2024 via Nonesuch) – their first LP since cofounding sister Emily announced an indefinite break from the band, in large part to focus on her own growing family (she still contributes vocals on a handful of tracks) – sees remaining sisters Jessica and Camilla Staveley-Taylor surging ahead with an almost palpable electric energy as they continue to unpack and process the human experience through beautiful music.
We wanted to play with the idea of ‘All Now’ being an ideology and a message.
Both “All Now” and its predecessor, September’s “You Held It All,” find their strength through thought-provoking lyrics and slow, dynamic build-ups – that gradual growth of a song from soft whispers to rousing shouts.
Working together with legendary producer John Congleton, who also produced 2021’s critically acclaimed Good Woman, The Staves once again showcase the depth of their artistry alongside a longstanding commitment to continuous artistic evolution on “All Now.” The smoldering song burns bright with sonic heat and emotional depth as the band build up toward a cathartic fever pitch, boldly singing: “It’s all now, is it it exciting? We can stick it to the man and come out fighting…”
It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?
We can stick it to the man
And come out fighting
Unencumbered, fast as lightning
I can act like I’m fine, I can put it in writing
It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?
Isn’t it exciting? Isn’t it exciting?
Isn’t it? Isn’t it?
That “excitement” feels at once authentic and acerbic; the British sisters do have a wicked sense of humour, after all, and how better to air their frustrations with our “modern” age than through some pointed tongue-in-cheek critiques? As has been the case throughout The Staves’ ten-plus years in the spotlight, this song is much more than meets the eye, and all but demands repeat listens.
Bitterness is only fine if nobody can see, be the brand of empowerment I’m supposed to be…
Intimate, unfiltered, and emotionally charged, “All Now” is breathtakingly visceral – a brutally honest eruption.
“It’s a stream of consciousness about frustration and feeling overwhelmed with modernity. Kind of a rejection of the performative way we have to express ourselves now in order for it to be deemed valid,” the Staveley-Taylor sisters tell Atwood Magazine. “We were in love with the old footage of singer-songwriters performing in shows like The Old Grey Whistle Test, and the way the audience hung on the singer’s every word.”
“We wanted to play with the idea of ‘All Now’ being an ideology and a message. Something that came from artists and creatives, but is then hijacked and commodified by corporate creeps, preaching the message to gain power.”
Social media is a terrible, treacherous beast for one’s mental health; for years, the algorithm has put pressure on millions of users to promote and share their highs and disregard or ignore their lows, thereby creating a virtual alternate universe where life seems perpetually euphoric and dandy. It’s a false reality – and somewhere deep down inside each of us, we all know that to be the case – but for so many of us, it’s especially hard to be truly authentic on a platform where the sum total of hearts and “like button” clicks somehow determines your net worth and your value to society.
Show the scars on your stomach,
show the hurt on your sleevе
Rub their faces in the dirt,
givе them something to believe in
Do what you want, just be aggressively free
Be aggressively free, be aggressively free
It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?
We can stick it to the man
And come out fighting
Unencumbered, fast as lightning
I can act like I’m fine, I can put it in writing
It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?
Isn’t it exciting? Isn’t it exciting? Isn’t it?
Isn’t it?
Even when people do share their genuine selves, those vulnerable messages can so quickly be co-opted by others for power and influence. “Show the scars on your stomach, show the hurt on your sleevе,” The Staves sing in a searing second verse. “Rub their faces in the dirt, givе them something to believe in. Do what you want, just be aggressively free.“
It all starts to feel like one big game, and even the winners are losers. How can we not feel disenchanted and cynical about the whole enterprise, when even living unapologetically and keeping true to yourself feels like some kind of act – a great charade?
I can act like I’m fine, I can put it in writing…
Society itself demands that we be happy and grateful; that we feel empowered, strong, and resilient all the time, when the truth is that life is messy and ugly and filled with unhappiness and pain, too. Sometimes you just want to cry, and you shouldn’t feel bad (or be made to feel bad) about having those feelings. Life is an endless roller-coaster of highs and lows, and most of the time, we’re not in the driver’s seat.
But you probably won’t see much of that on Instagram.
By bringing all these unseen, unspoken pressures up to the surface and out into the open, The Staves shine a light on an all-too common, if not universal, piece of present-day lived experience – that relentless push toward joy and betterment. This echo chamber is reinforced in the chorus’ jingle-like exclamations, “It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?! We can stick it to the man and come out fighting… I can act like I’m fine, I can put it in writing.“
Surely we can find a more productive way to engage with each other and our multifaceted emotional states. Having to constantly put on a happy face is, quite frankly, utterly exhausting.
Don’t be angry at the kids, had it easier than me
Bitterness is only fine if nobody can see
Be the brand of empowerment I’m supposed to be
I’m supposed to be, I’m supposed to be
It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?
We can stick it to the man
And come out fighting
Unencumbered, fast as lightning
I can act like I’m fine, I can put it in writing
It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?
Isn’t it exciting? Isn’t it exciting? Isn’t it?
Isn’t it?
Would it be alright if I sit this one out tonight?
The Staves’ raw passion is infectious and irresistible.
“All Now” builds slowly up from the Staveley-Taylor sisters’ rich, harmonizing vocals and pulsing synth pads, adding drums and searing electric guitars along the way as The Staves come to a climactic, cathartic crescendo.
The end result is like a rallying cry for the disillusioned: A song that hits harder and harder the more we listen to it, inspiring and rejuvenating us as we, quite ironically, chant at the top of our lungs, “It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?!”
When it comes to The Staves, it really is all now – and we’re very excited.
The band’s new studio album is set to release March 22, 2024 via Nonesuch Records!
Would it be alright
If I sit this one out tonight?
But you can go wild, dear
Happy New Year
Have a Happy New Year…
It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?
We can stick it to the man
And come out fighting
Unencumbered, fast as lightning
I can act like I’m fine, I can put it in writing
It’s all now, isn’t it exciting?
Isn’t it exciting? Isn’t it exciting?
Isn’t it? Isn’t it?
Happy New Year…
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Stream: “All Now” – The Staves
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© Harvey Pearson
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