Opensouls - Standing In The Rain (From The Crates)

Standing In The Rain is Opensouls‘ terrifically accomplished sophomore album and well and truly solidifies their standing as a top-shelf NZ soul band.

Standing In The Rain is a concept album, made with the intent to reflect the sound and feeling of a musical era; late-50s, early-60s British and American R&B.

Inspiration was drawn from traditional songwriters such as Lennon and McCartney, Smokey Robinson, Holland/Dozier/Holland and Van Morrison. Consequently, the album has an unmistakable vintage quality, reminiscent of Motown in its heyday.

Opensouls’ aim was to create an album that involved the entire band performing 100% of the time. Unlike their 2006 debut, Kaleidoscope, with drum programming and computer sequencing, Standing In The Rain was tracked entirely live by the band’s rhythm section and recorded at Jeremy’s Spare Room studio at his home in the AK suburb of Westmere. The band didn’t want a polished, expensive studio sound – after studying how old soul records were made, they used basic recording gear, pushing it to its full potential, obtaining a raw, gritty quality.