Album Review: Broken Brights by Angus Stone

Angus Stone, the gentlemanly half of sibling folk-pop duo Angus & Julia Stone, was raised on a steady diet of classic rock, and his first official solo outing (he recorded a rollicking 2009 album under the moniker Lady of the Sunshine) finds the Australian singer/songwriter successfully bridging the gap between bearded Laurel Canyon rambler and bearded indie pop urbanite. Equal parts early Ryan Adams, Elliott Smith, and Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac, with more than a little pre-facial hair Bob Dylan tossed in for good measure, Broken Brights is spilling over with songs that are tailor-made for leaping off of the couch, dumping an excess of dry food into the makeshift cereal bowl on the porch for the neighborhood feral cat, and jumping into the back of a friend's car to leisurely chase down the sunset toward its inevitable conclusion. Stone's reedy, expressive voice pairs well with the clean, concise production, which utilizes the simplest of pop setups (guitar, bass, drums, handclaps) as a vehicle for his summery tales of love, loss, legends, and lore.

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Even though he plays with his sister Julia in the eponymous duo Angus & Julia, Angus Stone has still made space for two solo albums over the span of their six-year career. His latest, Broken Brights, heralds the Australian soul’s transplant to Laurel Canyon. The last album came out under an odd nom de plume, Lady of the Sunshine; but this time, Stone nakedly puts his own name to Broken Brights, delivering a record akin to the work with his sister while taking many musical cues from the Canyon era.

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