Fans of recent artistes may have stumbled across the brother and sister duo, Angus and Julia Stone, who hail from Queensland, Australia, and have enjoyed the patronage of people such as Fran Healey from Travis. Their sound is pleasingly unique and contemplative, a factor that stems largely from their staunch musical roots established in the bosom of their own extended musical family.

However, devoid of Julia, Angus is spreading his own wings in conjunction with ‘Finn’ (Govinda Doyle) playing drums and bass on his debut solo effort, Smoking Gun. It is quite an effort, as young Mr Stone highlights, when he states, “I have been skipping off, in between tours, for about a year now, to shake my head of these songs…every one has its own voice and the album is what became of them.” Although not accompanied by his sister on vocals, there is a delicious balance provided by Nadia Doyle (who one presumes is a member of Govinda’s family) to Angus’s pleasingly straight-forward and uncomplicated tenor delivery.

The twelve tracks on this remarkably elementary album are quietly effective and drift gently into an alternative rhythm and blues genre, some of them being slightly darker in quality and depth than others, while he proves that he can rock out when he wants to, with a guttural scream that is not at all unsettling. On the other hand, his voice can be as frail as that of Ray Lamontagne, albeit possessing a more youthful range and vitality. The album, which seems to have an alternative title of Lady of the Sunshine, is a journey through the artiste’s life, where he travels through his own emotions and deals with reflective meanderings around his childhood (especially notable in ‘Home Sweet Home’, in which his old primary school choir joins in the backing vocalisation).

It is a fascinating album of tremendous musicality and engaging themes that take you gently by the hand and lead you to a sometimes peaceful, sometimes tempestuous place, within the head of Angus Stone. Great listening.