2007–2009: A Book Like This
During their time in London, Healy helped Angus & Julia Stone with material which later become a part of their debut album, A Book Like This. With a producer to guide them, the siblings sat on Healy's lounge-room floor, continuing to record songs, using vintage guitars and microphones. The rest of the tracks were recorded in their mother's lounge room back in Newport with Pritchett. 2007 commenced with the duo playing at January's Big Day Out.
Their single "Paper Aeroplane" was listed at No. 43 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2006. In February 2007 they played their first national Australian tour, which sold out. In the same month, Chocolates and Cigarettes and Heart Full of Wine were double-packed and released in Australia and the UK. The double EP reached No. 12 on the UK iTunes, and their single "Private Lawns" was named Single of the Week on BBC Radio 2. It received a positive review from The Evening Standard, which called it "[t]heir finest track[;] its cheeky toe-taping rhythm [is] impossible to resist".
In late March that year, the group signed with the William Morris Agency as their US agent. In May they played at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton. The Evening Standard reported, "Potentially chart-bound tracks were in far greater supply when Angus and Julia Stone took to the stage". In August they released "The Beast", which reached the top 40 of the ARIA Singles Chart. On 8 September the group followed with their debut studio album, A Book Like This, which peaked at No. 6 on the ARIA Albums Chart. By 2008 it was certified platinum by ARIA for shipment of 70,000 units. The group spent the rest of 2007 dividing their time between Australia and the UK. They toured around Australia and gigged extensively in the UK, Ireland and Scotland including support slots with The Magic Numbers and a winning display at the Latitude Festival.
They welcomed in 2008 by performing at the New Year's Eve Falls Festival in Australia before heading back to the UK to support Newton Faulkner and David Gray, as well as playing their own sold-out London shows at Scala. Two of their tracks were listed on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2007, with "Wasted" at No. 31 and "The Beast" at No. 45. A Book Like This was released in the UK in March 2008. In May they performed at the Woodford Folk Festival. The UK press lauded the duo: Uncut magazine said they performed "[f]ragile, beautiful songs"; a reviewer for The Guardian said "[they] fill [my] heart to bursting point with joy". The second half of that year was filled with more touring, including a support spot with Martha Wainwright across the UK and into continental Europe playing gigs to over 25,000 people. In October they issued another four-track EP, Hollywood, which included re-recorded versions from A Book Like This with lead vocals swapped from Julia to Angus for "All the Colours" (a.k.a. "Wasted") and "Johnny and June" ("Hollywood"), and from Angus to Julia for "Lonely Hands" ("Just a Boy"). A three-track version was released for the US market.
In March 2009, A Book Like This was released in the United States. The siblings supported Brett Dennen around the US, then they performed on the KCRW stage at South by Southwest as well as their own US shows. By April, however, they decided to take a break from performing and recording together. Angus released his debut solo album, Smoking Gun, under the pseudonym Lady of the Sunshine. His album reached the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart. One of his tracks, "Big Jet Plane", from Smoking Gun was later re-recorded by Angus & Julia Stone and released by the duo as a single in May 2010.
