4/5
Queen Of The Stone Age.
This Summer, this sister is doing it for herself. 2010. Over a decade ago me and my good friend and former co-DJ at my hometown's hospital radio, John met three great Aussies, (hey Joel, Carli and Iain) on the London Eye. That Big Smoke landmark takes a minute to blink, so we chopped it up over where we were from and what we were doing. We ended up making plans for dinner and serving as tour guides. The three of them said they'd be in Manchester in a few days...more my neck of the woods. So we agreed to meet. "We're going to this concert of this brother and sister due from our way back Down Under. You should come." I asked who they were going to see. "Angus and Julia Stone". Sounds good...it was. A half decade later and like "Ron's in the kitchen making pizza" I'm in Santa Monica, in holiday in L.A. about to watch the Lakers after spending New Year in New York across the coast in Times Square as the ball dropped. A good friend of mine who I would later fall in love with is texting me after I wrote her name in the sand. "How's your day?" "What you up to?" Those questions that mean so much more when they're from someone who means that much more. I send her a photo of my iPod (yeah, I'm that old) that's playing a song we both love and have talked about, as it has particular relevance to where I am at the moment just off Venice Beach. Then she send me back a screenshot of her iPhone (she isn't old) and what she was listening to. And unless she fast forwarded to around 2 minutes and 41 seconds into the track (only I'm that sad), she was listening to exactly the same song at the exact same time in sync. 'Santa Monica Dream'. Now last year when I moved to Tokyo, Japan who would happen to be on vacation at the same time? No not the girl, but one of the three friends from back in the day. Ready to reminisce. Good times. Like the ones we've lost and the ones we miss. Goodbye my Santa Monica dream.
Angus and Julia Stone have been through it all. That's what family is for. From Hollywood to writing songs named after 'Sylvester Stallone' that rock like Balboa up steps in Philly. They started their careers chapter with 'A Book Like This', before they were 'Down The Way' of Santa's and Monica's. Ending up collaborating with the legendary Rick Rubin for their 2014 self-titled, coming of time classic. Before the producer as prolific as his beard suggested the pair of siblings record their next album of Sly cuts (the 'Snow' fall) at Angus Stone's Byron Bay cottage. That was in 2017. But this isn't the first time the brother and sister act have done their own thing. Remember 'The Memory Machine' a decade ago when I met my friends? Sister and brother is forever. That sort of thing never really breaks up. You can expect another family affair very soon. Now following 2012's 'By The Horns' a Christmas EP ('Everything Is Christmas') and last years 'Twin' extended play (not to forget her most iconic and important track in the beautiful but critical 'Beds Are Burning' with this 'Song For Australia') comes the full length 'Sixty Summers' we've been waiting for this year out of quarantine. From Boy and Bear to The Jezabels and INXS to this, the best music really does come out of Australia. And 'Summers' is a classic from the opener and each track after in season that are so good you wish this album had sixty of them like its name. But a lucky 13 and an "ooh la, la" French version is all you need. Right from the opener 'Break' that breaks open new ground on fresh sound as Stone sings, "So I left and started dancing under the street light/And you saw me and I saw that you saw me And you were always one to wander 'round these places/With eyes for ears and ears for ideas."
Setting off this album with the sax of the self-titled track Julia tells us, "looking for the brightest star/In the back of your car/We just wanna make each other happy," and that kind of mid-nite hour mood in love permeates the whole album that gives us star standout after star standout. Like the Matt Berninger of The National assisted duet, 'We All Have'. As these two go it alone together Berninger simply says, "love is all we needed to be here for" in a time we need this heart like we need The Beatles. But it's the beat to beat style of 'Substance' that similar to fellow ruling Aussie Sia really shows you who this singer truly is in all her depth. Just like the hold on you the new classic 'Dance' will have cheek-to-cheek. Whether, "why don't we dance?/Only one thing left to do/You got that hold on me/I got that hold on you." Or the French lyrics, "Je ne dors plus jamais, je m'ennuie aussi/Mais je comptais sur nous pendant mes insomnies/Je cherche encore le sommeil pour te retrouver dans mes rêves/Dans ce bar" not lost in translation. On the trumpet throwback sounding declaration of 'Free' the celebration of coronation continues for your two-step. Until she asks 'Who', "who do you think you are, loving me like you do." But it's the 'Fire In Me' that burns bright like the monumental coliseum of album artwork that is animated on Spotify as Stone sings. 'Easy' is as good as a lazy Sunday with nothing to do but listen to good music like a Commodore. Whilst 'Queen' continues the anointment by royal decree. But 'Heron' is were this heroine really shines like gold with lyrics like, "you were only trying to fight it/Music that would call to me/When you'd fall for me/I could tell that you were frightened/Music that would always be/In your beauty." That undeniable, unmistakable voice on 'Unreal' is exactly that on the vocal beat. And then when she sings 'I Am No One' ("You drive me down your street/The trees are all breathing/You were teaching me there's something bigger than this/Now I'm leaving again I'm leaving you/Again") on the beautiful closer, she couldn't be more the opposite than the title of that terrific track. Now that's how you top off a third solo album that's the charm. So Grammy get ready like this record collaborating with the iconic talents of Annie Clark AKA, St. Vincent who also has a new release on the way ('Daddy's Home'). Not only is your first real candidate for album of the year here. But this one has the heat to be the soundtrack for more than 'Sixty Summers' straight. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Break', 'Unreal', 'Dance (French Version)'.
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