Angus and Julia Stone might be ramping up to release their seventh studio album, Karaoke Bar, but things are different this time round. Marking a new chapter of spontaneous movement and collaboration, the brother-sister duo are paving fresh paths in the sonic landscape they’re building. We caught up for a chinwag with Julia Stone to pick her brain about the upcoming album, as well as a whole bunch of first times and last times.

What was the first song written for Karaoke Bar? “Karaoke Bar” was actually the first song written for the record. We wrote it in Hydra, Greece, cats roaming the studio and streets, cigarette smoke moving through the walls, big, tall windows overlooking the Aegean Sea… it was magic.

When was the last time you released music with your brother, and how does this upcoming album mark a new chapter? It had been about a year since we recorded Cape Forestier when we began making Karaoke Bar. We made this record while touring around the world with The Living Room Sessions (which was the Cape Forestier album tour). There was so much joy in those old theatres in spite of difficult things happening in the world or in our own lives at the time. I think that feeling really found its way into this record… the connectivity that music can have. Which is why we called it Karaoke Bar in the end – at the end of a night at karaoke, you can find yourself arm in arm with someone who has completely opposite beliefs or values to you, singing a song that unites you.

It feels like a new chapter because that’s what each record is, a new chapter in our lives. We’ve grown so much over the last 20 years, and I think getting older is such a rewarding experience. People ask us if there’s anything we miss about when we started out, and honestly, there isn’t. Every time we make a record together, we discover something creatively that takes us somewhere new. And when you enter that new world, you bring everything you learnt from the last one with you – all that experience gives you the freedom to make different choices.

Tell us about the first time you played a song from Karaoke Bar live. I love that music can change once you take it out of the studio and put it in front of people. The “Big Jet Plane” we play today isn’t the “Big Jet Plane” we recorded all those years ago. It has other people’s stories, all the shows we’ve played, all the memories attached to it. The Karaoke Bar songs have just begun that journey – they’re new to us as well as to people coming to the shows. We played “Karaoke Bar” for the first time live on radio – it was really fun, and since then we performed “Karaoke Bar”, “Monroe” and “Celestial Bodies” at our shows across Europe this summer. Seeing people respond to them live feels like the songs are becoming something shared rather than just ours.

Where was the last city you worked on this album? We finished it in Australia at Angus’ studio, Sugarcane Mountain. Before that, the songs travelled with us. “Brightest Place”, for example, started in Greece, was tweaked in France and then finished in Australia. It was a very much travelled-with-us kind of record rather than something made in one place from beginning to end.

When was the first time you realised you wanted to be an artist? I don’t think there was one particular moment. We grew up with so much live music in the house because our dad plays in a rock ’n’ roll covers band, and they were always rehearsing at home. We grew up listening to four-part harmonies in the living room – Fleetwood Mac, Little Feat, Neil Young and all this amazing ‘70s Americana music. Singing and performing in front of people was normalised for us from a really young age. I think that’s probably where it started – just experiencing how much joy live music could bring.

What is the last album you’ve fallen in love with? I’m really into this record Setlhopha by a South African band called Splash. My dad came to visit a few weeks ago and was telling us about this amazing music he heard playing in the taxi from the airport and asked the driver what it was. He said it was his favourite band of all time, Splash, so we put it on and started listening through their extensive collection of records starting back in the 80’s. This is my current favourite one.

Who is the first person you show new music to? It depends what I’m working on. Of course, if I’m working on a record with Angus he hears a lot of new ideas first. But I love creating with so many people, and over the years I’ve worked a lot with Thomas Bartlett so he has heard a bunch of my new music for the first time. Leigh Fisher – an incredible producer – is also someone I share new music with. Ben Edgar has heard a lot of demos for the first time, and then my partner and daughter – they often hear the song being written.

Keep your eyes (and ears) peeled for Karaoke Bar when it drops this Friday, September 4 th. After more lovely music chats? Get a load of our chinwag with creative type Olana Janfa or check out our chat with alt-rockers Any Young Mechanic. Plus, sign up to our newsletter to stay in the loop.