Things Of Stone And Wood have unveiled the first video from Rae Street, their first studio album in 23 years, following a national tour that delivered the band’s strongest chart result in more than three decades.
by Paul Cashmere
Things Of Stone And Wood have released a new video pairing both sides of their recent double A-side single, ‘You’d Gone Before You Went’ and ‘The Windmills Turn’, marking the latest chapter in a resurgence that has seen the Melbourne folk-rock group return to the national charts and complete a successful Australian tour behind their first new album in 23 years, Rae Street.
The video arrives after the band wrapped a nationwide run of dates across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT. The tour supported Rae Street, an album that signalled the group’s first collection of new material since 2003’s Rollercoaster and their first major studio release in more than two decades.
The renewed activity has delivered one of the strongest periods for the band since their commercial peak in the 1990s. Rae Street reached No. 10 on the ARIA Australian Albums Chart, the group’s highest chart position since 1995, while many dates on the tour sold out. The momentum is set to continue with a second new album, The Final Forest, scheduled for release in November, followed by another national tour.
The newly released clip combines both songs from the band’s double A-side single into a single visual work. While the two tracks share a release, they explore markedly different themes and musical approaches.
‘You’d Gone Before You Went’ is among the most personal songs written by frontman Greg Arnold. The sparse acoustic arrangement examines Arnold’s experience of losing his mother to Alzheimer’s disease. Built around a direct vocal performance, understated instrumentation and layered harmonies, the song strips away many of the folk-pop flourishes traditionally associated with the group in favour of emotional intimacy.
By contrast, ‘The Windmills Turn’ embraces the communal energy that has long been central to the Things Of Stone And Wood sound. Featuring accordions, melodicas, percussion and group vocals, the song draws on Celtic and folk influences while reflecting on the uncertain and often contradictory life of a working musician. The contrast between the two tracks highlights the broad emotional and musical range that defines Rae Street.
The album itself represents a significant milestone for a band whose history stretches back to Melbourne’s late 1980s acoustic music scene. Things Of Stone And Wood formed in 1989 when Greg Arnold and Michael Allen began performing together, eventually joined by Justin Brady and Tony Floyd. The group quickly established a reputation through relentless touring and a distinctive blend of folk, pop and acoustic rock.
Their breakthrough arrived with 1992’s ‘Happy Birthday Helen’, a deeply personal song written by Arnold for his future wife Helen Durham. The track reached No. 9 on the ARIA Singles Chart and became one of the defining Australian songs of the era. It helped propel the band’s debut album The Yearning to No. 8 on the ARIA Albums Chart in 1993.
Success continued with hits including ‘Share This Wine’, ‘Rock This Boat’, ‘Single Perfect Raindrop’, ‘Wildflowers’ and ‘Churchill’s Black Dog’. The group won the ARIA Award for Best New Talent in 1993 for ‘Share This Wine’, while Arnold was named APRA Songwriter of the Year the same year.
Despite that success, the band’s career was marked by periods of hiatus and reunion. After disbanding in 1998, they reformed in 2001, releasing the compilation So Far: Best Of Things Of Stone And Wood 1992-2002 and the album Rollercoaster. Another split followed in 2006 before the original line-up reunited in 2013 and toured to mark the band’s 25th anniversary.
The reception to Rae Street suggests that audiences have remained connected to the band’s catalogue despite the long gap between albums. At a time when many heritage acts rely primarily on nostalgia-driven touring, Things Of Stone And Wood have returned with a substantial body of new material and plans for further recordings.
That approach also reflects a broader trend among established Australian artists who are continuing to create new work rather than simply revisit past successes. For fans, the arrival of Rae Street and the forthcoming The Final Forest offers an uncommon opportunity to hear a veteran act expanding its catalogue decades after its commercial peak.
With a second album already completed and another round of touring expected later this year, the current revival shows little sign of slowing. Nearly four decades after the band’s formation, Things Of Stone And Wood appear determined to add a new chapter to their story rather than simply celebrate the old ones.
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