It’s very good, but it’s hard to say why it’s good...
Austalian brother and sister Angus and Julia Stone, sometimes sound like America, sometimes like The Sundays, and sometime like Beth Orton. Angus’s voice is instantly likeable (kind of like Stuart Murdoch from Belle and Sebastian), Julia’s is more distinctive and a little more of an acquired taste – but by now I like it a lot. For the most part it’s all very enjoyable, well judged straightforward acoustica, with no strong allegiances to folk, country, blues or any other rootsy sub genre. But calling it “acoustic pop” doesn’t quite do it justice (even the phrase “acoustic pop” makes my skin crawl and my gorge rise). So in order to impress upon you that this is quite good, I’m giving it a gleaming 4 out of 5.
Key track: ‘The Beast’