First Impressions: Standing in the Light: 25 Years of Stone Foundation

Thunderous booms cracked the sky last night while lightning sliced the darkness and rain pounded on our skylights. The lamps dimmed, then dimmed again, teetering on the brink of taking the air conditioning and—heaven forbid—internet with them. Earlier in the day, another strong storm blew through my den, though—if anything—the lights actually brightened thanks to the sinewy rhythms, taut grooves and oft-uplifting lyrics. I’m talking about the new Stone Foundation compilation Standing in the Light: 25 Years of Stone Foundation, of course. 

It’s two-and-a-half hours of soulful bliss.  

If you’re not familiar with the Northern Soul band, which has been making music since the late 1990s, I’m not surprised—especially if, like me, you live outside the U.K. So for those not in the know: The Midlands-based group is led by singer-guitarist Neil Jones and bassist Neil Sheasby, who also write the bulk of the songs. They’ve put in their dues, having played a slew of pub gigs and releasing several low-selling albums through the years. In fact, looking back, it’s safe to say that they were basically a band out of time, making maximum R&B in an era when minimal pop was in vogue. But their last four releases have made the U.K.’s Top 40 album chart and, as cool, the U.K’s Top 10 independent and vinyl charts.

Their fortunes began to change in 2014 when, for the To Find the Spirit album, they recruited the likes of Carleen Anderson and Northern Soul legend Nolan Porter to join them in the studio. The albums that followed embraced the same formula, featuring legendary (and a few soon to be) artists either singing lead or sharing the vocal duties with Jones. Among the notables: Graham Parker, Bettye Lavette, Mick Talbot, Hamish Stuart, Durand Jones, Kathryn Williams, Melba Moore, Shirley Jones and—perhaps most importantly—Paul Weller, whose initial idea of just recording one song together expanded into the album-long collaboration that became Street Rituals in 2017. (That’s how I discovered them, at any rate.)

Here’s their latest single:

Whether the hard copy version of Standing in the Light features in-depth liner notes, I can’t say. My “completist bundle,” which also comes with a 78-track/5-CD box set that includes rarities and the like, is currently skipping the pond Atlantic. (I assume not based on the pictures at the Stone Foundation’s online store.) But this I know: the 33-track/2-CD version of Standing in the Light is all killer, no filler. Pull it up on whatever streaming service you prefer and click play—but be forewarned: Once you start, you won’t want to stop.