Recorded over three months at Belafonte, the studio on Stone’s Byron Bay ranch, Smooth Big Cat is Dope Lemon squeezed into a pure juice, distilled to a nectar fit for the gods, sweet on everyone’s lips. It is Angus Stone’s real world: blue moon music; songs for when the evening is about to turn into something special. A record for wild hearted escapades and fuzzy, melty moments laying back on the rug. Two years ago, Stone, already known in the UK as one half of the celebrated Australian folk-pop duo Angus and Julia Stone, released Honey Bones, his debut as Dope Lemon, in Australia. That record has gone on to amass over 100 million streams since release and has seen Dope Lemon become not just a melting curio of artistic experimentation, but a fully-fledged cultural phenomenon in Stone’s homeland.
