It’s hard to believe Angus and Julia Stone’s “Down the Way” is only their second album together.
Comfortable and confident, meandering yet elegant, it plays with a sophisticated subtlety not usually reserved for people who have only occasionally popped in the studio together over the past four years.
Then again, growing up together lends you a certain perspective — even if you don’t acknowledge each other as intelligent life forms. “Angus is pretty exceptional all around, but I didn’t even think of him as a human being as a child,” says Julia of her brother in a lilting voice that hints of her spooky vocals. “He kept to himself as a kid, and I suppose I kept to my own world, too, as kids do. When you grow up together, sometimes you take for granted how well you know someone, and you don’t explore that person.”
Thankfully, the Aussie duo got to know each other as co-workers with 2007’s “A Book Like This” and continue to work on their gentle, folky dynamic.
“Now, I consider him my best friend,” says Julia of Angus. “I love the way he sees the world and puts it to music — he’s a real pure soul. He kind of exudes this really pure wisdom, and it makes me a happier person to be near him.”
