ANGUS AND JULIA STONE [29:08.07] THE STONES Sydneysiders Angus and Julia Stone are the kind of musical outfit that leave you always wanting more. Not because they are in any way lacking, but because everything they have done up until this point has seemed like just a taste of things to come. Now, with the impending release of their debut album 'A Book Like This', the brother-sister duo are ready to lay it all out on the table. "We're siblings, so there's always a mix of good and bad, but we never argue about music," Julia begins. "When Angus writes I just listen, and I can't say I've ever felt the need to change anything - I'm just blown away by him, and amazed by what he does." Julia's admiration for her brother is obvious. Her references to his writing and musicianship are constant and glowing. "Angus just lives the music. He expresses himself so much better through the music than in person; saying how he wants the world to be," she muses. "Me, it comes and goes. I'm usually so preoccupied by what's going on in my head and being distracted; it comes and goes." But that's not to say that her music is ever far from her mind, or her bed, as the case may be. "My guitar is always in bed with me," she laughs. "It's almost like a need, a hunger. When you're hungry you just have to eat, and when I get the urge to write, I just have to, there's no way around it." And while Angus and Julia are of course the primary source of song writing and musicianship in the band, in reality, the duo is actually a trio. Drummer Mitchell Connelly has been a part of the ensemble for more than three years, and currently resides with Angus and Julia in their current abode in London. A man Julia describes as being "very comfortable in his own skin," Connelly has apparently never harboured any desire to add his namesake to the band's title. "Angus, Julia and Mitchell?" Julia laughs. "No, he's pretty comfortable with himself and where he is. When we first began we did want to be called The Stones, but of course there were always going to be problems with that. Our name was a hard thing to find, and no matter what we came up with, nothing sounded like us. So our names were the easiest option." With lyrics dripping the truth of heartbreak, hope, longing and loss, Angus and Julia connect to their audience with ease. After the release of their first EP 'Chocolates and Cigarettes' last year, and their follow up EP 'Heart Full of Wine' last February, the pair have found themselves on high rotation on Triple J, and in the favour of the country's critics and fans alike. So much so, that in their short career, not only have they played premier venues throughout the country, but have also been invited to play The Great Escape, Splendour in the Grass, the Big Day Out, and soon, the Irish Electric Picnic Festival. 'A Book Like This' looks set to garner them even more attention. Billed as a storybook album, with each song revealing itself like a different page, Angus and Julia share their own unique take on the world and the lives we live within it, via poignant lyrics and velvet-smooth harmonies. "Music is just what we do, and what we've always done," Julia says. "We're really happy with this album, and hopefully everyone else will be too." Erika Hennessy Angus and Julia Stone's debut album 'A Book LIke This' is released on September 8 through EMI. Catch the duo live at the Tivoli on October 5. They also play The Sound Lounge @ Gold Coast October 4 and The Great Northern @ Byron Bay October 6. back to top ^

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