Lady of the Sunshine - Smoking Gun

Stone has effectively slain the “beast” that is the critics that refuse to take notice of his musical talents. 

This album is a coming out of sorts for Stone, although still firmly rooted in his acoustic background with sister Julia, Angus Stone throughout this album expresses his desires for a heavier sound not seen when producing with his sibling. This laying to rest speculation that acoustic folk hailing from Nimbin had nothing left to achieve. Stone has effectively slain the “beast” that is the critics that refuse to take notice of his musical talents. He took to them with nothing less than a Telecaster and together with friend Govinda Doyle on bass and drums they have set them selves apart from their counterparts.

Although as previously mentioned, this album is still deeply rooted in acoustic mode, Stone also shows us he’s pretty handy with a Tele and as a result creates what is essentially a very emotional album. In songs such as the album’s single “White Rose Parade” and “Smoking Gun” Stone produces heavy riffs to address emotion seamlessly hidden in previous musical endeavours. It’s like he’s reached deep down inside himself to release what is his own beast, a beast of power and malice, and less soft and sweet. Although not the most eloquent of guitar styles, you can’t help but feel the potential beaming off the back of this disc.

Despite the fact that Stone has largely taken to the opportunity of using his father’s old electric to create a heavier riff based sound on a lot of the tracks it features, he also delves into classic rock influences. Songs such as “Dead Man’s Train”, “Jack the Nimble” and “Big Jet Plane” both employ an emphasis of space between notes, which gives his music finesse previously unseen. It’s this sound, combined with the occasional distortion and muting that really bring out Stone’s talent. Then to combine this with both some subtle, supple piano and violin, it’s nothing short of beautiful music. These songs are well thought out, and meticulously arranged. It really is Stone at his very best.

Listening to this album, you might think it’s too simple, the lyrics skating on thin ice between cheesy and comforting, the drum beats simple and the guitar though well thought out is no amazing feet. This is, in short, the beauty of it. Stone has broken down the ideas of needing big extended solos, complex lyrics and three percussionists to make effective music. He’s proved all these songs need is time to develop, recorded between tours with sister Julia Stone, Stone gave them the time they needed to play out instead of taking a big gap to write them in one big hit. It was with the purest intentions that these songs were written, in Stone’s words “Every emotion in my head has it’s own emotion and this record is what came of them.” This is raw emotion straight from the horse’s heart; Stone and Doyle have given a piece of themselves in this album, which instead of making it over simplified, just makes it real.

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