Rating: * * *
Verdict: Sleepy folk from family band
If it's not cute enough that they are brother and sister, the Stones have cute voices, cute lyrics and cute images on their album. But there's only so long you can listen to mournful violins, sleepy country melodies and lacklustre croaky vocals before the novelty wears off - 13 tracks are a little tiresome.
The stirring orchestral backing and Julia's gamine vocals in Hold On make a promising opener. But when Angus takes over the microphone in Black Crow it's clear his raspy voice is much more weighty and seductive than his sister's.
Though Angus' performance is honest and enchanting, it sounds as though Julia is adjusting what comes naturally to her to fit the rustic and dreamy theme the duo has tried to create - along the lines of Sarah Blasko - and that maybe she is holding back in doing so. When she turns up the emotion in I'm Not Yours, she soars.
Angus fronts the upbeat and poppy Big Jet Plane. Its combination of plucked and ringing strings, and the twanging country of Yellow Brick Road, which is also an Angus track, proves their potential to write complex, soulful and gripping tunes.
Other tracks have been purposefully reduced to something quite watery.
This is the duo's first time as producers, taking control of their sound. And they have created a wholesome, tender album that will build on, if not surpass their platinum-selling debut.
