Angus & Julia Stone: How a Vacation to Greece Lead to Their Upcoming Album "Karaoke Bar"

With their next studio album Karaoke Bar set to be released on September 4th, 2026, Angus & Julia Stone sat down with Andy from THE UNSEEN Magazine to chat about their upcoming project, the inspiration behind the record, and how their songwriting process has evolved over the years. The sibling duo have been making music together for over 20 years now, and despite their long history, they continue to find new ways to reinvent themselves and their sound.

From writing the album during a holiday on the Greek island of Hydra to the role that nature and slowing down play in their creative process, Angus and Julia reflect on what it means to create music together for two decades. They also talk about revisiting old songs, sharing new music for the first time, and why every new record still feels like stepping into unknown territory.

It's August, which means your new album Karaoke Bar comes out next month on September 4th. Could you tell us a bit about the initial spark behind the album?

Julia Stone: We were on holiday and were also doing a tour at the time called The Living Room Sessions. The idea of that tour was that people would come to the shows and they would kind of go on a journey with us through the beginning of writing music and coming to our living room, it was a really fun tour. We were playing these beautiful historic places of art, amazing theatres, and just having a lovely time with the community of people that like our music.

Between each leg of the tour, we decided that instead of going back home to Australia, we would go on holiday. And a friend of ours had told us about this Greek island, Hydra, and said that there was a great studio to check out. So we sort of decided to go for a week-long holiday and just go swimming, eat nice food and be in the Mediterranean, and we'd check out the studio if we felt like writing.

So it wasn't really a plan to make a record, the plan was to just have a nice time. We, Angus, me and my partner Chris, went there, played cards, drank wine, went swimming, and then we were like, "Oh, let's write a song." And the first song we wrote was "Karaoke Bar" and that was, I guess, the spark. It was this feeling of slowing down and having a nice time.

It's like sometimes when you slow down, because everything moves so fast in life, those moments give you space to hear creative ideas or think about creative stuff.

It seems like the songwriting process kind of changed compared to the other albums, right? Or would you say you had similar situations with past albums during the songwriting process?

Angus Stone: I think with every record you're constantly evolving with your craft and you're learning new techniques and things about yourself that, you know, through each song, it's a journey as to where you've been in the last chapter of your life. And I think, yeah it is. You are constantly changing and moving forward into a direction that is hopefully healing for yourself and the world of people that are attracted to the songs.

Songwriting is such a personal form of expression, but are there still any parts of your lives that you consciously choose to keep out of your music, or would you say you're pretty open?

Julia Stone: I feel like songwriting is probably a little bit more subconscious than conscious, and I think because of that it's what makes it quite mysterious. I think the process itself has access to everything. I don't think you can limit or hide things from the process, and I suppose because of that it's what makes it, as Angus said, quite healing, because there are things that happen when you're writing a song, words that you say or melodies that you sing that show or tell you things that you have otherwise never heard yourself say. Sometimes to this day it's like you're still figuring out what a song you wrote is even about. People ask what this song is about or that song is about, and sometimes I think you just make a song and it comes from somewhere in you in the moment or from wherever, and it's always an endless journey of discovery. To answer your question, no, I don't think there's anything kept away from the songs.

The fans won't have to wait much longer for new music, but could you give us a little insight? Is there a lyric of the new album that you feel particularly proud of?

Angus Stone: There's a song called “Celestial Bodies” and it's cool in the way that, I mean, we've spoken about it, like Julia said, you're just learning about what it is that you said on the record after the fact. But I think to look at it in a sort of grand scope of who we are, we're everything and we're nothing at all, you know, we're this sort of stardust and this anatomy of "we're all bouncing around trying to figure out who we are, who we belong with" and there's something really cool about that, the insignificance and the greatness of it all. It's a cool thought process. That song, “Celestial Bodies,” we're really proud of.

You just mentioned your song "Celestial Bodies." During your show in Berlin a couple weeks ago, you had a very beautiful backdrop which reminded me of the milky way or just a lot of stars. Was it an intentional play on that song or was it just a coincidence?

Julia Stone: We grew up in nature, and where we grew up in Australia was such a big part of our lives. Our parents were sailors, our grandparents were farmers, so we spent a lot of time on the water looking at the stars. So, when we started putting on shows, I think we naturally gravitated to wanting the stage to feel like there was some link to the outside world. You're in these clubs, and when we started they were very dingy clubs with low ceilings, and we thought, you know, if you add elements of nature, it can take people and help transport them to what the music can sort of do. So to answer your question, I don't think it's a coincidence that the star cloth was there at the show for this particular song. It's such an intrinsic part of how we write and our music that there's always an element of nature on stage.

So, is nature the place where we can find the two of you whenever you have an off day on tour? Do you like to go to visit nature, or what do you like to do on your off days?

We were just talking about live shows, and a few weeks ago in Berlin you, Julia, convinced Angus to play a really old song, “Just a Boy”. What made you finally play that song, Angus?

Angus Stone: (laughs.) Lots of money. We were so young when we first started writing that it's like an old journal you pick up later on in life and you're reading it, and you're kind of thinking it's really not who you are anymore, but you can see the beauty and the vulnerability of what you've written. And I think what's cool about what we do – you can reinvent yourself and the songs that you've written in the past to mean something new, and I think that's what it is sometimes. You struggle with this sort of past self, but the renewal of self is really beautiful, and I think that's possibly where that came from.

You have been making music for a long time. Who is the person that you play your new songs to first whenever you finish a new song?

Angus Stone: Generally, when you're with someone that you trust and you've had a few beers, and you're like, “Do you want to hear something new?” and they're kind of like, “Yeah, let's have a listen,” and it's cool. I imagine for a painter it would be if you were in the warehouse and they'd be like, “Well, I got this thing,” and they pull the sheet off and they're like, “Oh wow, this is really cool,” or “Oh wow, this is really terrible, I never want to see that again.” I think those moments are really special. It is like revealing a bit of treasure that you found, and it means something to you, and it's really special to share for the first time with that special person.

Do you ever get this feeling where you felt like you overshared and then decided to not release a song after you showed it to someone? A moment where after you played the song to someone, you decided to keep a song to yourself?

Julia Stone: I mean, it's not about wanting to keep it for myself. For us, it's always about what's the strongest record. What are the songs that go together the best, they tell a story, and I think sometimes … I've written songs for my partner, and it's not like it's so precious that I don't want to share it with anybody else, but it doesn't really fit. It's like this separate thing, and maybe one day when I'll have written enough songs just for him, he'll have his own record. But at the moment, I think Angus and I both write a lot of music, and so there's a lot of songs that have not been released and that are waiting for their time, and one day maybe there'll be a record they make sense with. It’s always about the record, like: what is the sound and the feeling of the record? And some songs, they just don't work with the rest.

You've done a lot musically, from solo albums to soundtracks. Is there something you've wanted to explore creatively as Angus & Julia Stone that you haven't had the chance to yet? Like, are you looking forward to doing something in the future?

Angus Stone: It's an interesting question. I think at every next record you're always stepping into unknown territory, not intentionally. You've just grown so much from whatever the last body of work was to now, that that is that feeling. It's kind of like, “This is something that we haven't done yet.” For our listeners, it's really cool because it feels like we're not repeating ourselves. It always feels fresh, that whole renewal of ourselves. Sharing that with the world is really cool.

Now that you're celebrating 20 years of music together, if you could go back to your younger selves and give one piece of advice just before your first album together, what would that be?

Julia Stone: It's weird because I was gonna say nothing matters as much as you think it does, but it also does, you know? We're so detail-oriented, we work really hard, and we love putting on good shows. Sometimes looking back, for me personally, it would make me feel stressed and worried that it wasn't as good as it could be or whatever. I think in a funny way I had to be like that to now know that it's okay, and showing up, just being present and being yourself, and being authentic and honest is enough. But I don't think you can tell your younger self that and they can hear but you have to do the whole thing. You have to go through all the stress and all the worry and all the self-feeling of shame, all of that stuff is part of growing up. And I don't think I'd probably even bother trying to talk to my younger self because she wouldn't listen. She was just very determined, and I'm glad for that, and I'm happy for the person I was and the person I am now.

Make sure to check out Angus & Julia Stone's newest single "Celestial Bodies" here: