Snow is the fourth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter duo Angus & Julia Stone. It was released on 15 September 2017[1] by EMI in Australia and Nettwerk in the United States.[6][7] It was preceded by the release of the title track[1] and "Chateau" as singles.[8] "Chateau" was accompanied by a video directed by Jessie Hill.[9] 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.[10]
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."[10] 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.[12] Songs originated from "jam sessions" with friends who were at the pair's home.[13] 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.[12]
The album incorporates new instrumentation for the duo: the use of a drum machine and "a more expansive guitar palette".[14] It also incorporates the use of a $150 organ the pair bought from an advertisement on the opening track, "Snow".[12][15] The track "Sylvester Stallone" includes lyrics referring to a lover who slurs their speech when drunk,[13] 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.[13]
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."[14] He gave the record three-and-a-half stars out of five, concluding: "They're stronger together – they just realise it now."[14] 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."[18] She summarised that the album was "studied nonchalance with no real identity of its own".[18]
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