Three english sisters, Emily, Camilla and Jessica Staveley-Taylor, these are The Staves, raised in Watford, daughters of a teacher and a businessman both fans of folk music.
“And I lost myself
on that November night
White winter trees
Covered in snow
I don’t mind”
A blue text, a sweet melody and three delicate voices: the power of The Staves is to create a peaceful atmosphere to communicate a message full of emotion, and often a touch of melancholy.
Hybrid animals walks in a forest scene (rabbit squid and llama owls) and the three singing Stave sisters are represented by the instrument-playing trees.
“We wouldn’t normally base a story in a forest with trees for a song called “winter trees”,” says Karni, of the directing duo “Karni and saul” “But when we first heard the song we wrote ideas down separately, just brainstorming it, and we both wanted a forest. It’s the feeling the song gave us – so beautiful but slightly sad and bare too. Something emotional. Then we bashed out the idea, coming up with slightly hybrid animals escaping something – and a llama owl with a man/spirit on its back”.
The directors of the video Karni and saul have been working together since 2005, merging Karni’s atmospheric photographic style with Saul’s fantastical animated elements to create music videos, commercials and short films.
This is the new formula of folk: beautiful girls, haunting voices, guitars, suitable illustrations and a lot of imagination.