Words by Keane Fletcher

We're all living in a simulation anyway right? So it makes a kind of sense that Angus & Julia Stone, our very own Laurel Canyon-esque neo-bohemians would end up writing an album based on a video game, doesn't it? Well, it does to me. But maybe that's the edible I just had. Anyway, whether you anticipated it or not, it's here, and we should thank our lucky stars because Life Is Strange might just be one of the pair’s most immediate, most beautifully-rendered sets yet. 

Recorded in, and inspired by, some of the most beautiful places in the world (Angus's farm in Byron Bay; Boulder, Colorado where Life Is Strange, the video game, was developed; Neil Finn’s studio in Auckland, New Zealand) Life Is Strange is a testament to life’s strange confluence, the magical and spiritual forces that guide us through. Featuring string-led tracks and funereal dirges, crystal-clear pop and gorgeous, emotive ambience, Life Is Strange is unique in the Angus & Julia Stone oeuvre in the way that it’s the most free, the most willing to cover new sonic territory. Says Julia, 'I can hear how, on this record, we weren't afraid to try, to follow our noses and not to force any direction that it went. It didn't matter that there was a really folky song next to a really dancy song. I can hear it feeling very free.'

If you're unfamiliar with the game it's based on, here's a quick rundown: the Life Is Strange gaming franchise has won 20+ awards since its debut in 2015, boasts over 20 million unique players, and -- just like Angus & Julia themselves -- is preoccupied with the richness and complexity of love between siblings, families, and communities. It’s a theme Angus & Julia have themselves never given up working through: 'There's always going to be this common thread that runs through all our songs, which is that at the bottom of everything is love,' says Angus. 'It always comes back to love, and things coming from within your heart. When all else fails, love will be the thing that conquers.'

Nothing strange about that.

Go stream Angus & Julia Stone's Love Is Strange on all streaming platforms now!

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