Becky Stark’s ethereal soprano and her lyrics rooted in idealism have long shaped Lavender Diamond, a band that regards its songs as vehicles for peace, justice, and hope. Emerging in the early 2000s amid the indie-folk wave, the group nonetheless aligned more closely with the grounded yet luminous styles of Vashti Bunyan, Linda Ronstadt, and Carole King than with most peers of the period. This distinction already surfaced on the 2005 Cavalry of Light EP. Although new recordings grew infrequent after the 2007 full-length Imagine Our Love, the same unguarded sincerity resurfaced whenever the musicians reconvened, most recently on the 2020 album Now Is the Time, whose themes of healing and optimism felt especially timely.
The project traces its roots to Bird Songs of the Bauharoque, an early-2000s punk operetta drawn from the visionary work of painter and architect Paul Laffoley. Stark and puppeteer Xander Marro devised the piece while Stark resided in Providence, Rhode Island, with Stark portraying the title character—a half-bird, half-human figure yearning for global peace. The production enjoyed success as an indie stage show, traveling to fifty-six cities across North America in 2003. During the tour Stark sold copies of her self-produced, self-released debut album Artifacts of the Winged. That same year the band placed the track “Emptiness Is a Conductor” on Hen House Studios Anthology 3 and issued the self-released single “When Are You Coming Home?”
In 2004 Stark relocated to Los Angeles to advance her career. There she reunited with former Brown University classmate Jeff Rosenberg—also known for his work in Pink & Brown, Tarentel, and Young People—and the two launched a country-pop duo. Simultaneously she performed classical arias and Tin Pan Alley material alongside pianist Steve Gregoropoulos of W.A.C.O. With former Swirlies drummer Ron Regé Jr. she formed the psychedelic doo-pop group Mystical Unionists, which released the EP An Introduction to The Mystical Union of Souls. Members from these various ventures eventually coalesced as Lavender Diamond, issuing the 2004 split single “Themepark Ashtray” with Vague Angels on Pretty Activity. The Cavalry of Light EP followed in 2005, along with a split 7" alongside Queens of Sheeba on Cold Sweat later that year.
A steady sequence of releases and appearances at ArthurFest, South by Southwest, and the CMJ New Music Seminar prompted Rough Trade and Matador to sign the band in late 2006. Cavalry of Light received a reissue the next January, and the breezy debut album Imagine Our Love arrived that May. Also in 2007 the group contributed a cover of “Like a Prayer” to the Madonna tribute Through the Wilderness. Two years later it performed the title track of Prince’s Purple Rain for Spin Magazine’s Purplish Rain collection.
Following their departure from those labels, the musicians stepped away from the project for a period. Stark took roles in films such as City of Ember, joined the Decemberists onstage, and appeared on John C. Reilly’s Blue-series singles for Third Man Records. After a handful of joint performances in 2011, Stark and her bandmates regrouped to record their second album with OK Go’s Damian Kulash Jr. and Dave Fridmann. The resulting Incorruptible Heart surfaced in September 2012. Another hiatus ensued, during which Stark performed with Eleni Mandell and Inara George in Living Sisters and also with She & Him. Stark, Gregoropoulos, and Regé Jr. eventually reconvened once more, delivering December 2020’s Now Is the Time. Written and produced by Lavender Diamond, the album included contributions from Bright Eyes’ Nathaniel Walcott, SASAMI, guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, and Tucker Martine.
