Angus & Juila Stone- 'Chocolates & Cigarettes'
 

Angus & Julia Stone are a bother-sister acoustic duo from North Sydney, Australia. They both sing and play guitar. Julia also plays the trumpet. On some of the tracks, there are some contributions from Mitchell Connelly on drums/percussion, Clay Macdonald on bass and Hanna Oblikov on cello.

From the first song, it can be noted how well the record has been produced. ‘Private Lawns’ is a rather beautiful song pointing out how all the wealth in this world cannot substitute the simple pleasures of life. In fact, all the tracks from ‘Mango Tree’ untill ‘Chocolates and Cigarettes’ resonate that feeling in one way or the other, subtly or directly. There are acoustic guitars, rattling and brushing percussions, trumpets, bass and cello in some form throughout the album. The songs are also well written. I just admire the lyrics for 'Paper Aeroplane'. The lines are very imaginative-

“I spilled the ink across the land
Trying to spell your name
Up and down there it goes
Paper Aeroplane
It hasn’t flown the seven seas to you
But it’s on it’s way
It goes through the hands
Then to someone else
To find you girl”

So, is this a recommended purchase? Well, the answer to that question is both “Yes” and “No”. It really depends on what you want to listen and how much you want the songs to get into your system. If all you are bothered about is arranging a tea party and having these songs played in your backyard (without even caring how the music is arranged), then fine- by all means go ahead and buy the album. If you are someone that pays attention to every detail and wants the songs to leave a lasting impression on you, then I would not really recommend the album to you. You will get bored with it at some point if not on the first time while listening.

With the exception of ‘Private Lawns’ and maybe the title track ‘Chocolates & Cigarettes’, there is not much musically interesting going on here. There are some songs where good melodies are waiting to get out but never arrive. Instead, they are just made to repeat again and again. The brother-sister duo could have developed these melodies and made the songs more catchy. Also, to give the name of the band, “Angus & Julia Stone” does not seem to be a good idea.

In my opinion, it is difficult to make an acoustic album especially to make it make it musically adventurous. However, it is not impossible to make a rich acoustic album. For instance, check out Kings of Convenience’s last album- 'Riot on Empty Streets' that was released in 2004. It is a brilliant acoustic album that has got intricate melodies weaved. It not only sounds stripped down, but the way it has been arranged would leave anyone spell-bound. However, I cannot the say the same about Angus & Julia Stone’s album though it was a pretty decent effort.