Life on the road can be a slog. A grind. Countless bands have come unglued thanks to the rigorous of touring, that seemingly unending cycle of late nights, strange towns, faceless hotels.
Angus & Julia Stone had an altogether different experience with their Living Room Sessions, an intimate global tour that launched in 2024 in support of their sixth studio album, Cape Forestier.
The experience was so touching, so energizing, the sibling act used the trek as the creative springboard for their new album, Karaoke Bar (via Virgin Music).
“A lot of it was written while we were touring the Living Room Sessions and Angus and I were just really happy, loving making music together,” Julia Stone tells Billboard. “The shows felt so special… all these incredible old theaters around the world, an amazing band, and we were really enjoying telling stories and singing songs from across the 20 years we’ve been making music together.”
Along the way, the Stones played Royal Albert Hall in London, Paris’ L’Olympia, New York City’s Town Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. Each evening, a career highlight.
“Every night there was this real sense of joy, and then between legs of the tour we’d duck into studios and write and record,” Stone continues. “I can hear that in this album… a kind of happiness, an underlying sense of peace in the music.”
The new collection, which is out now, was written and recorded across Greece, France and Australia, the brother-and-sister duo’s homeland. And shaped by their experiences. Karaoke Bar captures a sense of both the granular and the grand, and that happiness is never far from the surface. It’s right there in focus track “The Start,” and the opening number, the title track, which rips a line from one of the happiest tracks of them all, “Sweet Caroline.”
“There’s always experiences and moments that make new music special,” notes Julia. “The special sauce is really a mix of the places we recorded, and also the way we were feeling while making this record.”
Recording in the old Carpet Factory studio on the Greek island of Hydra “was pure magic. It felt like stepping back in time. Men in suits smoking ciggies in the kitchen below the live room, smoke drifting up through the floorboards… we loved it. Such a vibe,” she recounts. Also, the facility was nearby to where the Stones’ idol Leonard Cohen wrote so much of his music.
One night, Angus’ son Adam came to hang out in the studio. “We ended up sitting around the kitchen table listening to songs and talking about music and life for hours. Sharing stories, sharing music,” says Julia. “Those kinds of moments stay with you.”
Miraval Studios at the Château de Miraval in the south of France was “equally inspiring,” recalls Angus. “The studio there is incredible, and the whole property just makes you want to create. We honestly could have settled into the cottage there and written the whole record, but we only had this window between the Europe and North American tours.”
The album’s second track, “Monroe,” came to life during that time. “We’ll definitely go back.”
The bulk of the LP’s 10 tracks were created on the duo’s portable recording gear, which they lugged on tour, including the final cut, “Mexico City,” which was inspired by their first ever show there in July 2024. Angus’s Sugarcane Mountain Studios, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, was where the final touches where made to the album, completed when they finished their touring commitments in Australia and New Zealand.
In a recording career spanning two decades, Angus & Julia Stone have amassed multi-platinum sales, No. 1s and numerous awards in their homeland and enjoyed an international breakthrough with the 2009 song “Big Jet Plane,” from their domestic chart-topping sophomore album Down The Way. The track went on to snag five ARIA Awards, including single of the year; won triple J’s annual Hottest 100 poll, and claimed the APRA Music Award for song of the year.
Rick Rubin produced the group’s third, self-titled studio album, from 2014, which went to No. 1 in Australia, for their second leader, and cracked the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 54. At the time, the uber-producer described the artists as “truly unique musicians. They are authentic and pure people who do things from the heart. I’ve never worked with anyone like them before.” All five of their previous studio albums have cracked the ARIA Top 10.
It’s a good thing Angus & Julia Stone draw joy and inspiration from the road. They’re about to set off once again. North American tour dates get underway this Friday, Sept. 11 at FONO Festival, followed by a three night stand at Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, in Los Angeles, and dates in Ottawa, Brooklyn and New York. Australasian tour dates for February and March 2027 were announced earlier this week by Frontier Touring.
“It’s all looking pretty busy,” Julia remarks. “The calendar is full of color.”
“It’s an exciting time for us,” Angus adds. “Most of our catalogue now lives in the one home and we get to be in control of a lot of our music which is great. And we are so proud of this record and so excited to play it.”
Angus & Julia Stone 2026 North American Tour Dates:
Sept. 11 — FONO Festival, Quebec City, QC
Sept. 14 — Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, Los Angeles, CA
Sept. 15 — Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, Los Angeles, CA
Sept. 16 — Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever, Los Angeles, CA
Sept. 19 — CityFolk Festival, Ottawa, ON
Sept. 22 — Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Sept. 23 — Racket, New York, NY
2027 Australia Tour Dates:
Feb. 13 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre, SA
Feb. 20 — The Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, QLD
Feb. 25 — Forum Melbourne, VIC
Feb. 26 — Forum Melbourne, VIC
Feb. 28 — Sydney Opera House Forecourt, NSW
March 5 — Kings Park and Botanic Garden, Perth, WA
The post “How Angus & Julia Stone Captured ‘A Kind of Happiness’ on New Album ‘Karaoke Bar’” by Lars Brandle was published on 09/09/2026 by www.billboard.com