Snow (Angus & Julia Stone album)
| Snow | ||||
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| Studio album by Angus & Julia Stone | ||||
| Released | 15 September 2017 | |||
| Studio | Byron Bay cottage studio | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Angus & Julia Stone | |||
| Angus & Julia Stone chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Snow | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The Irish Times | |
| The Line of Best Fit | 7.5/10 |
| The Music AU | |
| The Observer | |
| Renowned for Sound |  |
| Rolling Stone Australia | |
Snow is the fourth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter duo Angus & Julia Stone. It was released on 15 September 2017 by EMI in Australia and Nettwerk in the United States. It was preceded by the release of the title track and "Chateau" as singles. "Chateau" was accompanied by a video directed by Jessie Hill. The album was written entirely by the duo and recorded at Angus Stone's Byron Bay cottage studio after it was suggested by Rick Rubin, who produced their 2014 self-titled album.
Julia Stone commented that the duo had never written a whole album by themselves, nor spent as much time making an album alone together, saying: "That was the first time that we actually started writing together, in the same room [...] the last phase of writing and recording was just eight weeks of him and me and the quiet of the land." Ideas for the album came about while the duo were in Switzerland, and the album was recorded at Angus' Byron Bay studio over a period of approximately six months. Songs originated from "jam sessions" with friends who were at the pair's home. Angus and Julia included a song about their late grandfather on the album, titled "Cellar Door", as he had helped inspire them to become a band; the track is about Angus revisiting his home town to sing at his funeral.
The album incorporates new instrumentation for the duo: the use of a drum machine and "a more expansive guitar palette". It also incorporates the use of a $150 organ the pair bought from an advertisement on the opening track, "Snow". The track "Sylvester Stallone" includes lyrics referring to a lover who slurs their speech when drunk, and "Sleep Alone" was created after a "'speed-date' songwriting session" with an unnamed DJ, where the duo abandoned the programmed beat but kept the lyrics.
Darren Levin from Rolling Stone Australia complimented the "call-and-response" of "Snow", saying: "The Stones are at their best when they're playing off each other like this: Julia providing the strong but sympathetic counterpoint to her brother's just-rolled-out-of-a-two-day-bender version of charm." He gave the record three-and-a-half stars out of five, concluding: "They're stronger together – they just realise it now." Lauren Murphy of The Irish Times was less positive, giving the record two out of five stars, writing: "Beige might be a more appropriate title for Angus and Julia Stone's fourth album [...] their songs are bland creations, dripping with laboured pretence, as heard on 'Sleep Alone' and the lacklustre 'Baudelaire'. Only the Springsteen-esque shimmer of guitar on 'Who Do You Think You Are?' inspires any emotional response." She summarised that the album was "studied nonchalance with no real identity of its own".
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