Musically, Snow is almost a misnomer for Angus & Julia Stone's newest album. It's a warm, sunny collection of indie folk/rock songs, with grittier, more layered production that builds on the Australian brother-sister duo's earlier work. But, as Julia Stone tells me over the phone from Melbourne, the title isn't intended to reach for any sort of wider, deeper meaning; it's more a mark of a time and place. The title track is the first song they wrote for the record, and it all began during a special trip to Switzerland.
"Last year, Angus and I played a festival called Zermatt Unplugged - it's this little festival in a town where the Matterhorn is, and it was snowing, and obviously for Australians snow is pretty spectacular," says Julia.
"One day this guy took us up in a helicopter and dropped us off at the top of this mountain, and then we snowboarded down - I actually skied, I say snowboarded because I think it sounds better but I'm actually a skier - anyway, we got out there and this crazy blizzard came through, and you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. It felt like it was the beginning of time or something.
"We were finding our way down these incredible slopes, and we just really connected and had an incredible time. It was during that trip that we sort of said, 'Let's get in the studio and start figuring out what we're doing next'. And then Snow happened, and it just felt like the song, and the time, it all tied together. And 'snow' is a nice word."
