专辑简介

Much has been written about that voice over the years, but Mojo magazine put it right very early on: Vocalist Paal Flaata has a distinct advantage over his contemporary US heroes in that, with a voice that makes Scott Walker sound like Little Jimmy Osmond, he can sing them all into a cocked Stetson..." That expressive voice was front and center on five full length albums by highly acclaimed Norwegian band Midnight Choir. All their albums charted in their home country, but despite obtaining almost superstar status in Scandinavia the trio recently broke up. Paal Flaata already released his solo debut In Demand in late 2002, while Midnight choir was still alive and well. In Demand was an album mainly devoted to tunes by classic singer/songwriters like Mickey Newbury, Townes Van Zandt, Tony Joe White and Charlie Rich. Rain is his second solo release. This time the songs were almost completely written by Ben Lorenzten and Christian Nystrom, both in Flaatas band and present on this recording on acoustic guitar and keyboards. Bless Us All - the only coverversion is culled from the songbook of Mickey Newbury, one of Paal Flaatas favourite songwriters. Again that voice is the central element of the record. But it is being carried by intricate arrangements that deserve consecutive spins in order to finally unfold all their beauty. We hear influences Folk and Blue-Eyed-Soul, of Country and Americana. We hear those beautiful, heart-wrenching ballads that made Midnight Choirs Amsterdam Stranded such a masterpiece. But there are also some meaty rock songs, pushed forward by the wizardry of Lars Havard Haugen, Norways best guitar player. But in the end theres that VOICE. Theres one quote that has been mentioned numerous time in rock history, but only rarely did it fit better than here: Paal Flaata could sing the phone book of Moscow and make it sound great!