Angus & Julia Stone – Down the Way (2010)

Angus & Julia Stone is a duo and one of the artists I found because my friend tipped me there was going to be a gig of them in Helsinki. I hadn't heard of the duo before, but I was convinced from the first songs I heard. Especially Julia Stone has a unique voice that you can recognise anywhere. First it sounds a bit childish, but once you get used to the honey-dripping dreamy voice, you can't but marvel in wonder. Her brother Angus has a great voice as well, even if it is slightly more conventional. What makes it truly special is how those voices work together. At the concert, it was clear that it's Julia who's running the show and Angus is mostly just a band-member, but then again, I would argue his importance is in song-writing, guitar-playing and in providing excellent vocal harmonies. In any case, the sibling duo really makes some magical music.



I bought this album from the gig. It's a CD in a beautiful thick cardboard case with a bonus CD. The songs are mostly soft and melancholic. They are acoustic in their core, but there are a bunch of electric instruments added to spice things up and the echoes in the production make this music sound truly magical. The only problem I can find in this set-up is that the songs sound perhaps too similar across the album. In any case, this album is filled with amazing sounds and melodies.

The album starts with a song Hold On, which actually has more electric guitars and synths than the rest of the album. This gives an air of dream pop instead of folk. The string arrangements are really beautiful. In Black Crow, Angus gets to sing the lead. The heavily rolling verse gets a nice contrast in the chorus where the song really flies aided with electric guitar riffs. For You is one of my favourite songs on the album, because it features Julia's voice as really pure and intimate. The song is mostly acoustic which gives more air to the amazing vocals. Big Jet Plane has some excellent vocal harmonies and picked string instruments. I particularly like the melancholic part after the chorus. Santa Monica Dream sounds like it's just been recorded in an echoey terrace by the beach. There's amazing intimacy in the stripped-down sounds. The vocals sound natural and the harmonies are amazing. Despite the name, Yellow Brick Road is not an Elton John cover. There are some references to classic pop songs though and I guess the title of the song is one of them. There are some nice steel-guitars in the song. And the Boys is quite a theatrical song, rising throughout the song. On the Road has some more traditional Americana folk sounds especially because of the use of sharp banjo sounds. Walk It Off sounds magical with the beautiful string arrangements. The intensity of the song grows significantly in the latter half. Hush goes closer to classic country music with some terrific harmonicas. Draw Your Swords is a proof that Angus can also sing in a way that will raise the hair in the back of your head up. There are some fantastic yells towards the end. This is one of the best songs on the album. I'm Not Yours is an amazing break-up song that could really give a good soundtrack to your sad moments. The album ends with a hopeful and warm sounding song The Devil's Tears.

I can't remember if I've seen any Angus & Julia music videos before. In the music video for Big Jet Plane, Julia is working in a shop full of plastic knick-knacks. She seems really bored with her work, but she's doing some indiscreet dancing along with her work. She's fantasising about getting away and feeling the sea air in her hair.

I'm not very good at listening to lyrics, but I feel like I should spend some time listening to the lyrics on this album. Most of them seem to be about relationships and being free of everyday boredom. The lyrics sound straightforward enough for me to really get lost into them.

I used to listen to this album a lot. Really a lot. Then I got a bit bored and now I haven't listened to this in a while and it's probably been good, since now I can enjoy it in full again. This really sounds super good right now.

Listen to the album on Spotify.