Angus & Julia Stone are an Australian acoustic folk-pop duo consisting of siblings Julia Stone and Angus Stone from Newport, Australia. Their decision to collaborate was taken at the beginning of 2006. Prior to that, both had performed as solo artists at open mic nights but utilised the other as a backing partner. Ultimately they came up with the same idea, “Why don’t we play together? It kind of made a lot of sense”. In terms of composing the material, they write on their own, then work together on structure and harmonies.
Released in March 2010, their album “Down The Way” debuted at #1 on Australia’s ARIA Charts enjoying a remarkable 12 months inside the ARIA Top 20 albums chart. It went on to pick up Album Of The Year at the 2010 ARIA Awards and includes the platinum selling Single Of The Year ‘Big Jet Plane’; w
hich was most notably voted No.1 on the 2011 annual Triple j Hottest 100. The album has hit triple platinum (210,000+) sales in the Stones’ home country, the only Australian artist album to reach this milestone on the current ARIA Top 50 albums chart.
European audiences have also fallen head over heels in love with “Down The Way”. Reaching platinum (100,000+) album status in France, supported by a hugely successful film sync with ‘Big Jet Plane’ for the movie, Les Émotifs Anonymes. Extended sold out tours are not limited to native Australia with the 2011 French tour including 5 ‘Le Trianon’ Paris shows selling out 2 months before the tour commenced. The UK, Germany, Austria, Spain & Portugal are all just a taste of the frequent European tour destinations with sell out shows. In the US, their dramatic and lush soundscapes have found homes on prime time dramas; Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice and key slots at iconic US festivals Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo and Coachella.
Travelling has been an integral part of the Stone’s musical story, so it’s not surprising they opted to record “Down The Way” in a number of diverse locations around the globe; an old sawmill on the river banks of Fowey in Cornwall, a studio in Brooklyn, a water tank in Coolangatta, London - and Queens in New York.
“Down The Way” marked their debut as producers, taking full control of their sound without losing the spirit of what made the first record ‘A Book Like This’ so special. There has been a subtle shift of gear, represented by a growing confidence in their abilities as artists and the music follows suit as it flows easily through sparse and rich textured arrangements without losing any of its etherealness and charm.
With an incredible response to “Down The Way” from all corners of the globe, Angus and Julia Stone will take some well-deserved time off and prepare for their next step along a remarkable musical journey.
“Simple yet inspired tunes, a heart-felt soundtrack to their folk adventures and lessons learnt along the way”
Rolling Stone Australia ***
“Aussie siblings continue to enchant’. ‘Sweet and savoury blend to warm the soul.. innocently Joyous”
MOJO UK ****
”The pair melt in to one another to create a spectral and lush backdrop”
Clash Magazine UK
“If A Book Like This compounded their future, consider Down The Way the fulfilling realization of all”
FILTER USA
Website: www.angusandjuliastone.com
www.myspace.com/angusandjuliastone
www.youtube.com/angusandjuliastone
User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL....
READ MORE
