Australian singer/songwriter Angus Stone has been around for a while and either in the duo with his sister Julia or under his own name he has been responsible for some high-quality music that people would usually tag modern folk. “Dope Lemon” is another solo project and “Hounds Tooth” is a second album/ep (whichever) under the moniker and its no wonder Angus has opted for another artistic title - this music has everything to do with modern and very little with what you would call folk.
Oh, surely, if you connect folk with laid back, you get laid back here, even the introductory soulful (Stax-style) number “Home Soon” has this Isaac Hayes laid back vibe and it is no wonder Stone chose it as a single. “Neon Lights” goes completely into another direction just (electric) guitar and keyboards. Laid back - yes, folk, not really. The title track that follows really stresses the atmospherics this project concentrates on, the tempo slows down even further and Stone’s voice gets this reverb added to it that moves it more into that now almost non-existent trip-hop category. “Lovers Left It To Die” accentuates this atmospherics vibe (with reverb going somewhere else) and Stone’s voice getting the full (soulful) treatment as if Marvin Gaye was on his playlist at the time. “Where Do You Go” which closes this all too brief outing is Angus Stone gets closest to the music he is known for with its subdued instrumentation and multi-tracked vocals.
Like its predecessor in the Dope Lemon series, “Hounds Tooth” is an “all by myself affair”, Angus doing it all in his home studio, and according to some Australian sources, it took him three years to complete. I’m not sure whether it has to do with both EP’s he’s come up with as Lemon Dope, but whichever is the case, it was worth the trouble. Stone did an excellent job of re-invention and doing something that is not supposed to be “his thing”. But then what should be someone’s thing? If you got the imagination for it, go ahead. And judging by this, Angus Stone does. Dope Lemon is neither dope nor lemon but quite a little treasure.
