Kiss frontman Paul Stanley has announced that his side project Soul Station will release its first album, Now and Then, on March 5.

The record consists of nine covers of '60s and '70s R&B classics - with a strong emphasis on Motown and Philly soul - and five originals. The first single is a take on the Five Stairsteps' 1970 Top 10 hit "O-o-h Child."

You can hear it below.

The 10-piece band, augmented by three string and two horn players, also offers interpretations of songs made famous by Al Green ("Let's Stay Together"), the Temptations ("Just My Imagination [Running Away With Me]" and the Spinners ("Could It Be I'm Falling in Love").

“Between us doing some great Soul Station shows and starting the album, I started to think that neither the band or the music we love should depend only on the past, so I started writing with the goal of seamlessly taking songs into the present," Stanley said in a press release. "From what a lot of people I respect have told me, that mission was accomplished.”

Stanley debuted Soul Station in 2015 as a live project to pay tribute to the music of his youth. They've since toured the U.S. and Japan. Back in May, when the group released a video performance of the Miracles' "Ooo Baby Baby" on Zoom, Stanley spoke of the influence soul music has had on him.

“Long before I ever heard the great British bands, I grew up listening to Philly soul, Motown and so much more," he said. "I was lucky to see Otis Redding and Solomon Burke, among others. That music and its storytelling gave me strength and hope, even in some tough days. The great classics of that era are magical medicine for most, and I felt myself drawn back to that era for some sorcery I think we could all use."

You can see the track listing and a mini-documentary about the making of the record below.

Soul Station, 'Now and Then' Track Listing
1. "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love"
2. "I Do"
3. "I, Oh I"
4. "Ooo Baby Baby"
5. "O-o-h Child"
6. "Save Me (From You)"
7. "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)"
8. "Whenever You're Ready (I'm Here)"
9. "The Tracks of My Tears"
10. "Let's Stay Together"
11. "La-La – Means I Love You"
12. "Lorelei"
13. "You Are Everything"
14. "Baby I Need Your Loving"

 

Paul Stanley Year by Year: 1974-2020 Photographs

More From Classic Rock Q107