Release Date: July 16th, 2012
Usually flanked by his tin-voiced, guitar-toting sister, Angus Stone has broken free from the hackneyed sibling-duo dynamic and headed in a newfangled direction—more accurately, the woods. Featuring loosely plucked banjo grooves and Mississippi Delta harmonica solos, Stone’s first eponymous solo release (he released an album in 2009 under the cryptic moniker “Lady of the Sunshine”), Broken Brights deserves the tip of a distressed straw hat, or however you praise a flannel-clad, bedroom-eyed folkster’s body of work.
The title track teeters between Americana influences and electronic dashes throughout the four-minute sleeper single. Stone’s silver-tongued chants complement smooth guitar grooves and a crisp, simple drum line. Rather than boring the listener, the simplicity of the piece lends an indisputable honesty to poetic non-sequiturs, “Shake them bones let me lost tonight. We’ll grow young make me feel alright.”
Singing nonchalantly over dueling acoustic and electric guitar dubs and jovial claps on “Bird on the Buffalo,” Stone poses potential as a milder, in-treatment doppelganger of melancholic indie royalty Kurt Vile. The combination of Stone’s sparse musical approach and charming electronic flourishes anchors the song without meandering into unwelcomed sonic territory.
“The Blue Door” leaves behind faint footprints in exotic territory with pipe flutes and tawny guitars. “Apprentice of the Rocket Man,” however, marks a weary middle for the album, with few musical nuances and a tired delivery. Relaxed is the phlegmatic Aussie’s vibe of choice, but it seems that even he has pushed past his pass-the-peace-pipe threshold. “Monsters,” one of many tracks exceeding the lengthy 5-minute mark, features an infectious banjo accompaniment that would make a Mumford envious and is undoubtedly the most complex Stone composition. With female overdubs and desperate wolf calls, “Monsters” is the creative highlight of the album.
“Only A Woman” musters up some musical girth with the help of aching backing vocalists. Stunning in its raw and blistering blemishes, emotional dips and cracks scatter as Stone wheezes through lyrics depicting yearning and heartbreak. Dejected pleas begging to be taken “back to them old days…when you held me close in that sweet rain” result in the a trembling tearjerker welcoming rivers of tears and mutters of regret.
The 13-track behemoth caps with aptly titled “End of the World” and features some of Stone’s most decipherable lyrics. Foreboding guitars drone as Stone warns of the impending doom approaching his camp of peyote-packing comrades with disconcerting serenity. Ultimately, the track strays from the overarching themes of the album and leave listeners with a mildly acceptable—and regrettably forgettable—ending.
Despite overtly clichéd Americana imagery and unremarkable musicianship, Angus Stone’s Broken Brights serves as a transition—undeniably bumpy, but a transition nonetheless—into a new vein of his career. The album explores common themes in unsurprising ways but Stone’s relentless approachability envelopes the album and redeems much of the heartbreak staple. But past the mild pitfalls and platitudes, Stone proves that however broken a man or song may be, it’s still possible to burn brightly.
Angus Stone – Broken Brights tracklisting:
- “River Love”
- “Broken Brights”
- “Bird on the Buffalo”
- “Wooden Chair”
- “The Blue Door”
- “Apprentice of the Rocket Man”
- “Only A Woman”
- “The Wolf and the Butler”
- “Monsters”
- “It Was Blue”
- “Be What You Be”
- “Clouds Above”
- “End of the World”
