Opensouls: Standing in the Rain (Dirty)

 |   |  <1 min read

Opensouls: Dollars
Opensouls: Standing in the Rain (Dirty)

To be honest, I wasn't expecting to like this quite as much as I do. Certainly some songs lack a soulful punch and you'd wish for more power in the vocals of Tyra at times.

But these people write a good tune -- albeit it grounded in Motown classic riffs and shifts -- and the edgy guitars elevate it a little more than I had anticipated. It is soul with a subtle injection of rock, and that's kinda cool.

There's also a sultry blues quality in places (Love Turn Wild) and some Sixties girl-pop in others (When Ya Gonna Stop? Walk Away, Dollars) which mix things up a little too.

This being the 50th anniversary of Motown and the time of the trickdown from Duffy, Beth Rowley, Amy Winehouse and others, Opensouls are putting themselves into a getting-mighty-crowded genre -- but with some jazzy piano playing and those other elements mentioned they have staked out a little piece of turf of their own.

It may sound a little like soul-on-remote to some ears (it certainly is on the first single Hold You Close, not the best on the album), but I think that demeans their understated appeal and the subtle post-Ardijah/Pasifika feel they intuitively bring to things.

Don't be too sniffy if you are a soul purist.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Kasey Chambers: Little Bird (Liberation)

Kasey Chambers: Little Bird (Liberation)

Almost a decade ago this Australian singer-songwriter penned Not Pretty Enough, a penetrating chart-topper about self-doubt. The title track here sounds like its rejoinder with the wisdom of... > Read more

Spyros Charmanis: Wound (spyros-charmanis.com)

Spyros Charmanis: Wound (spyros-charmanis.com)

There is precious little good news coming out of economically beleaguered Greece these days . . . but here's some if you are of the prog-rock persuasion (with emphasis on the "rock").... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Jim Reeves: He'll Have To Go (1960)

Jim Reeves: He'll Have To Go (1960)

One of the saddest songs ever penned, He'll Have to Go became a signature ballad for the man they called Gentleman Jim Reeves. Reeves (1923-64) had the vocal ease of Bing Crosby but with less... > Read more

THE LENNON LEGEND BOOK, REVIEWED (2003): More or less Lennon

THE LENNON LEGEND BOOK, REVIEWED (2003): More or less Lennon

Had John Lennon lived, he would have turned 63 last month. It's interesting to speculate what kind of music he might be making today. Interesting, but pointless: Lennon never saw the trickle-down... > Read more