On the eve of their Australasian Album Release Tour for their debut album, Working Title
Aotearoa/New Zealand four piece, Soaked Oats knocked 2022 out of the park releasing their debut album, Working Title to critical acclaim and into the charts at no.12 on the Top 20 NZ Album Charts. Ahead of their upcoming album tour in Australia and NZ, the band have been warming up with in stores and live radio performances. RNZ’s Jesse Mulligan extolled the honour of “This is one of the best (bands that have performed on NZ Live)”.
To whet the whistles of fans further comes the release of the official music video for the sublime album track, ‘Pink Beach’ featuring the gorgeous harmonies from Ōtautahi/Christchurch multi-instrumentalist, Motte. Filmed by Oscar Mein’s brother, Jake Mein from sunrise to sunset, across two days in Cape Foulwind, Aotearoa/NZ. The video features Paul and Romilly Mein - Jake’s father and Jake’s child and is edited by Oscar.
Oscar reveals, “Jake told me he wanted to make a video for this song, and it didn’t take much to see it taking place on the West Coast - an area we’re connected to via our Dad. So I sent him over there with a limited amount of film, and the rule of shooting from sunrise to sunset, to create a visual ode to a place that is a part of him, a part of his father, and becoming a part of his children. There’s something in there between the sea, the sand, himself, his Dad, his child, and time. And the song of course…”
Soaked Oats debut album has been a great success, with singles hitting a chord with fans around the globe. ‘Working TItle’ and ‘Headline Opinion’ taking no.1 on the Alternative Radio Charts in New Zealand and ‘Working Title’ firing up on U.S. radio on the NACC charts (North American College and Community Radio Chart) busting in on the Top 200. In January, the album shot up to #73 on the NACC Top 200 chart, making it the 2nd Highest Climber on the chart that week, ahead of SZA and LCD Soundsystem.
Written and recorded over the last eighteen months, the New Zealand four-piece group’s first full-length album explores the contrasting ways we perceive and interact with the world, how we define ourselves through work, And the subtle shift from viewing objects in the world as fixed ‘things’, to experiencing them as processes and interactions unfolding.
The majority of the recording took place in a community hall in the remote township of Okuru, Haast, situated on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island, where the coastal road ends at the foot of Mt. Aspiring National Park. Partly in response to that isolated landscape, Working Title has unfolded as a more introspective offering from a band that is known typically for their cheerful sound.
CCTV cameras were placed inside the hall to capture the recording sessions as a document of the process. That “making of” footage can now be viewed on the band’s website: soakedoatsband.com
Produced by Tom Healy (Tiny Ruins, Marlon Williams, The Chills), engineered by Tom Bell (David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights), and mastered by Christian Wright (Abbey Road Studios, Fontaines DC), the album delves into new sonic territory, with inspiration coming from 60’s psychedelia and dance-rock among others.
