Official video
STARRING DAMON HERRIMAN OF ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
Julia Stone has released a new single “Unreal”, her second offering for 2020 and follow up to her striking return in “Break”‘. Beginning its journey as a synth-gilded tale of friendship, the sample-heavy, richly layered track also speaks to the experience of feeling disconnected and unseen within a relationship. “Unreal” and “Break” will feature on a greater body of work to come produced by Annie Clark (St Vincent), Thomas Bartlett and Stone herself.
Written for her close collaborator and producer Thomas Bartlett, Stone explains the track’s anatomy – a dichotomy between darkness and light. “When I’m with Thomas, I feel like myself. I don’t have to hide any part of who I am because I’m all loved by him,” she explains, before swiftly shifting the focus – “The song, like songs often do as they come to life, transformed, and became both about feeling real and authentic with someone and the opposite of that – the feeling when you’re around certain people and it’s hard to be yourself for whatever reason”.
The release of “Unreal” includes a visual adaptation with award-worthy performances from Stone and Australian co-star, Damon Herriman, who most recently appeared as Charles Manson in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Shot at Sydney’s Coogee Beach, the official video for “Unreal” depicts a heart-wrenching, futuristic, Hollywood-esque plotline of love, loss, memory and the power of grief. Stone’s love interest fails to accept the loss of his partner and attempts to bring her back to life in clone form. The final, moving scene of the piece shows us it’s not the first time he has tried.
As eerie as it is beautiful, the video was directed by Bonnie Moir, director of internationally acclaimed short films “We’re Not Here” & “Dear Michelle”. Moir explains:
“What appealed to me most about this project, aside from the opportunity to work with the magnetic and talented Julia, was the chance to explore the emotional territory of relationships, love, loss and grief through the lens of the sci-fi genre. I leapt at the opportunity to work with Julia, Damon, producer Emily Cook and cinematographer Sam Chiplin. These creative pursuits are nothing without an amazing team.”
Julia Stone emerged in July this year with a dazzling new single “Break”. The single marked a profound shift for the artist; a shedding of skin from her folk origins. Since its release, “Break” has clocked up 1.3 million streams worldwide, receiving widespread Spotify support including 9 New Music Fridays globally, Broad Chords, We Love Indie, Listen Local and Indie Arrivals. On Apple Music, “Break” received love across New Music Daily throughout the world, ALT CTRL, Untitled, New In Indie, Alt Pop and Global Beats of the Week by Dre. The thrilling video has surpassed 1 million plays on YouTube following its global premiere on the platform. Elsewhere, “Break” has piqued global attention with Idolator stating, “Julia Stone reinvents herself on “Break,” Indie Shuffle naming Stone an “Aussie queen”, Consequence of Sound singing her praises and Billboard including ‘Break in its best songs of the week feature.
Since the release of her 2012 debut solo album, By the Horns, Stone has placed her creative energies into various artistic endeavours. She and brother Angus released their second and third albums – 2014’s self-titled, Platinum-selling, ARIA # 1-debuting Angus & Julia Stoneand 2017’s Gold-accredited Snow featuring their hit “Chateau” which took out #3 on the triple j Hottest 100 of 2018.
Stone also curated Songs For Australia in March this year – a compilation album to aid relief following the devastating Australian bushfires – featuring Kurt Vile, Laura Mvula, The National, Paul Kelly and Stone herself. She also stars in the upcoming film adaptation of Tim Winton’s Dirt Music.
Reimagined, reborn and reinvigorated, this new era for Stone replaces dirt under foot with wet pavements and sticky dancefloors; trades blue skies for red lights and red lips. Step into Julia Stone’s brand-new world. ‘Unreal’ is out now.
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