Angus and Julia Stone are a brother/sister group from the sunny northern suburbs of Sydney.  Originally they started out as separate artists who would play back up for each other at open mic nights.  From that humble background Angus and Julia slowly gained momentum and caught the attention of the alternative media in Australia and then the UK.  Using this momentum the recorded the album “A Book Like This” and released it in Australia in September 2007 and then in the UK in March 2008.

One of the things that make this duo unique is they both write songs independently of one another.  Because of this you get a wonderful variety in the album with songs written from different perspectives but with threads of common experiences holding it together.  What you end up with is a very listenable album that neither becomes predictable nor strays far from its roots.  This album plays like a summers day in a hammock with the surf breaking nearby.

The album was only recently released in North America (3rd March 2009) on Nettwerk.  Currently Angus and Julia are touring through the United States before they head back into the studio and I think we all should be holding our collective breaths to see what they release next.

Angus and Julia Stone (MySpace)

So the first hints of spring are starting to sneak out from underneath the blanket of winter and with it comes eternal optimism, a sense of accomplishment for surviving another winter and the chance of finding new love…

Actually right now I’m in Australia, which means that it’s fall, the weather is changing from a beautiful 30 degrees and sunny to days that hover around 15 with a sprinkle of rain and a cool wind from Antarctica blowing in off the ocean. The winter is looming like some sort of shadowy figure in the corner of your eye that you know is there but you cannot quite see yet. But even with winter around the corner there is still the chance for new relationships to form in the most unusual or average of situations, as these next two songs will show.

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