Cape Forestier [Gold Vinyl] in Bloomington, MN

Having gradually expanded and refined their intimate sound across their first four studio LPs -- while charting in the Top Ten in their native Australia with each one --
Angus & Julia Stone
reach back across the stylistic approaches of their entire output on their fifth album, the relatively stripped-down
Cape Forestier
. Whether embracing the more rustic folk mien of earlier material or a modest version of the sparkling atmospheres of 2017's
Snow
, it's full of affection, nostalgia, and gratitude. Speaking of affection and gratitude, there's even a spare acoustic track called "The Wedding Song" fronted by the pixie-voiced
Julia
and sure to rank high among first-dance picks ("I'll hear your voice come through the door a thousand times, maybe more/And I'll smile inside to know you're mine completely"). Likewise, "Country Sign"'s title is partly self-explanatory, as it goes on to employ pedal steel, banjo, mallet percussion, and more for dreamy, twangy trip through eternity. "Down to the Sea" is an example of a lusher, more plugged-in song, although its shadowy blues bearing slides in comfortably beside more melancholy songs like "No Boat No Aeroplane," with its reverb-heavy acoustics and harmony vocals; the sunshine pop-tinged title track, with its crooning lead guitar line; and jaunty, harmonic-injected love song "I Want You." Led by
Angus
, that song essentially makes a three-minute ditty out of a bouncy guitar riff and choruses of "I want you so bad." The 12-song pick-me-up ends on "The Wonder of You," an under-60-second time capsule of an orchestral ballad whose only lyrics are "That's the wonder, the wonder of you." While not for cynics,
should well please longtime fans and romantics alike. ~ Marcy Donelson