Album Review: Snow, Angus & Julia Stone

When Sydney-born brother and sister act, Angus and Julia Stone, started making music together, they wrote individually and brought completed tracks to the studio. However, on the advice of legendary producer Rick Rubin – who produced their eponymous 2014 record – they started writing together. This fourth album is their first to be written entirely as a duo, and it works incredibly well. It’s also the first album in the history of the world to have tracks named after a 19th century Parisian poet and a US action movie hero.

Occupying the indie middle ground between a warmer, less sombre version of The XX and an edgier She & Him, the siblings trade vocals throughout, working an effective contrast between Julia’s honeyed girl-next-door and Angus’ laid-back drawl.

The opening title track and lead single is a joy, their bittersweet and sometimes just plain bitter lyrics sitting pretty astride a melody so sweet, it should come with its own toothbrush. An insistent beat propels the dream pop of ‘Chateau’, a love letter to Sunset Boulevard’s legendary Chateau Marmont hotel, while the hypnotic ‘Cellar Door’ is what Beach House could sound like if they bothered getting out of second gear.

The dreamy stoner folk rock of ‘Make It Out Alive’ is a little too hippy-ish for most tastes. The driving rock of ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ suggests they’ve been listening to The War On Drugs, even down to the almost-seven minute duration: it sits a little uncomfortably amid the laid-back acoustic indie-pop of the rest of the album.

Angus takes lead vocals for ‘Bloodhound’, an end-of-the-night throaty jazzy croon that sounds heartfelt and boozy in equal measure, before the closing salvo of ‘Baudelaire’ (an unusual duet with heartbeat rhythm and a Bon Iver feel), and ‘Sylvester Stallone’, a laid-back call-and-response love song that namechecks the mumbling Rocky star.

A gentle tour-de-force, if ever there was one.

7/10

Out now.