Angus & Julia Stone are 7 albums deep, and ‘Karaoke Bar’ feels like a genuine turning point. The title track is out now via Virgin Music, and the full album follows on September 4. It’s a record built around joy and human connection, 2 things the Australian sibling duo have always understood but rarely leaned into this directly.
The title track was written on the Greek island of Hydra, steps away from Leonard Cohen’s former home, a detail that carries its own quiet weight. The song captures the specific electricity of a late-night karaoke bar, strangers bonding over shared songs, fleeting moments that feel larger than they should, memories that don’t fade. Julia Stone describes it with real clarity: “A night at a karaoke bar can hold so much goodness. Everyone has the chance to be heard. And it’s so often more than that, a moment of real connection. We’re together singing with a roomful of strangers, and the things that normally separate us in life all fall away.”
Angus calls the writing period “a magical time on one of the strangest and most beautiful islands we’ve ever been to.” That sense of discovery runs through the track and sets the tone for everything that follows. Recorded across Greece, France, and Australia, ‘Karaoke Bar’ is described as vibrant and expansive, intimate in feeling and cinematic in scope. September 4 is the date to mark.