Album Review: Angus & Julia Stone – Ritual

Angus & Julia Stone have always occupied a slightly unusual corner of the Australian music scene, building a career around intimate songwriting, understated performances, and a sibling chemistry that has survived more than a decade of musical detours. From their early acoustic beginnings to becoming one of Australia’s most successful indie-folk exports, the pair have consistently managed to sound both familiar and difficult to pin down. The self-released Karaoke Bar has a title that feels almost deliberately at odds with their usual image — although perhaps there’s something fitting about two notoriously introspective songwriters putting themselves in the least introspective environment imaginable… let’s dive in.

Kicking off proceedings with title track Karaoke Bar, great synth and harmonies in a very laid back California-type indie music style, with a great descriptive lyrics centred in a Karaoke bar. Monroe follows – a little more upbeat, with fantastic production elements and some lovely guitar riffing at the close of the track. Switching it up to a very post-industrial, 1980’s electro feel in Celestial Bodies, with more than a little hint of Royal Otis’ Come On Home about it, we then move to the simple yet effective The Start, and then to Strangely Strangely, which has a good groove and features on Angus’ vocals on lead.

Brightest Place uses some good distorted synths and voice modulator, and breaks into a good upbeat track, and this flows into Take Me Back to Japan which uses Japanese TV clips to open the track, which has a fantastic plucky quality to it, whilst there is a clear country/western lilt to Cowgirls Lover Boi. Penultimate track The Cherry Farm is the poster child of the album, keeping itself within the thematic bounds of its compatriots, but (for me) just hits all the elements perfectly, from vocal use to tempo to synth quality and tone. Mexico City rounds off the album with an ethereal quality to the synth opening, which slides into a nice laid back mid-tempo beat, a nice way to finish the album.

If you like electronic US-based indie music, then this Aussie sibling duo’s album is for you. Karaoke Bar is a collection of solid songs which are pleasant listening and a good standard of the genre, without anything which is going to be industry (or artist) defining. It’s 100% a great background album where everything is pleasing on the ear. The only thing I’d say that’s not positive is that I would only go searching for two tracks to listen to on their own merits: the title track Karaoke Bar, and The Cherry Farm. Good effort, and I’ll be looking out for future releases.

Graeme