OVER THE MOON
Joyful (and delicious) Lunar New Year memories
‘All through my twenties I was conscious of being not just an artist that people liked, but being a person people liked. Now I recognise that’s out of my control. I have to live my life in the best way possible for me,’ says the singer Julia Stone. Now 36, Stone, who grew up in Sydney and lives in Melbourne, started her career in 2006 as one half of the sibling folk duo Angus & Julia Stone, and has since released two solo albums of sensitive indie ballads. But her latest record is a change of mood entirely: Sixty Summers is a powerful and vibrant ode to claiming every part of yourself, something she has accomplished with age. It’s also her first foray into pop. When we talk over Zoom, she has spent the day filming a music video on a boat off the coast of the southernmost point of Tasmania, and is beaming with the thought of her new-found sonic freedom.
That elation is audible on Sixty Summers, which blends her rich, sensuous vocals with horns and electric guitars, a combination she settled upon through her collaboration with the album’s producers, Thomas Bartlett and Annie Clark, better known as St Vincent. Stone first met Clark at Helsinki Airport; after they swapped numbers, Clark sent Stone a simple text message: ‘Friends’. ‘Annie is generous, warm, thoughtful and intelligent – and a phenomenal musician,’ Stone says.
She firmly believes in the power of pop as an antidote to crisis. When pandemic restrictions in Melbourne were lifted and Stone was able to meet up with friends again, they all bundled into a bath and drank champagne while listening to Kylie’s latest album,
Disco. ‘Pop can be a real soothing balm,’ she says, fondly. ‘We were all sad, but we found real joy in that music.’
She hopes listeners will find such solace in her songs too. The album’s core sentiment is one we’d all do better to follow, well into 2021 and beyond: ‘It’s really short, this life, so do the things that make you feel good, that make you feel like yourself.’ ‘Sixty Summers’ by Julia Stone is available from 19 February.