This is acoustic rock at it's finest. It had that soft warm sound that lulled me into thinking that it's another gentle acoustic ballad. Which is fine, but not groundbreaking by any stretch. Then it hit me with the lyric:

'They want everyone to be numb / The world's drinking from a cup / That no one wants to share'

And suddenly I'm listening. Suddenly I want to hear what this guy has to say.

And cause I'm paying attention I start to hear the depth of the music. The wonderful harmonies and the lift of the subtle piano on the first chorus. The low-level bongos in verse 2. The voice-as-violin in the last choruses.

These guys know what they're doing.

But there are so many bands that do stuff like this well. What sets this song apart is that it actually has something to say.

Amazing stuff.

http://www.last.fm/music/Angus%2B%2526%2BJulia%2BStone/_/The+Beast