Adelaide's The Transatlantics are gearing up to release their second studio record, Find My Way Home. The 10-piece, known for their excellent fusion of old-school soul and contemporary influences of today, have been honing their craft over the past few years, becoming a serious live act to contend with. I give the band's front lady Tara Lynch call to have a quick chat about the upcoming album and how she feels The Transatlantics have changed from their debut release, to now.

You all must be getting excited for the new record to be released! There’s not that much longer to wait now, how does it feel to have a sophomore effort in the bag?

It feels pretty good, actually; I just saw on Instagram that they have arrived and I’m a little bit jealous that everybody else has them in their hands and I don’t. I’m in Melbourne at the moment! It feels really, really good, it seems like it’s been a pretty long time going. When recorded the first album in 2008 I think, so it’s pretty exciting!

Considering the amount of time in between releases, would you say that the time period has had a large influence on how this album was written and created?

Yeah, for sure; we’ve toured a lot and having just matured a lot as artists in that time. Also, we work within a collective of musicians in Adelaide and there are a whole bunch of other groups that work within this collective of people, so there’s been a whole bunch of albums made by other bands for example, The Shaolin Afronauts and Max Savage and the False Idols. I think that during that time, everybody matured in other projects as well. With the new Transatlantics album, even though it’s only been two albums, it feels like it’s been a pretty long journey.

With the new material to be featured on Find My Way Home, how would you describe these songs in comparison to those on the Transatlantics’ first record?

With the first album, we were all studying together and we founded that band out of a mutual love for the beautiful soul music from the late 60s and so I think, with that album, we were trying really hard to sound like that style of music and to write in that style. There’s an element of it that perhaps doesn’t feel honest and from the heart because we were trying so hard to be in that style, whereas growing in between the first album and the second album, you learn to find a bit of honesty in terms of song writing. I think that even though the songs on Find My Way Home are still very much rooted in that soul genre, I think that it’s from us and it’s about us and about things that we’ve experienced. I think that the main difference for me is that the song writing and the performances feel a lot more honest.

It’s safe to say that The Transatlantics’ sound is rooted in that classic soul/Motown sound – with so many musicians involved in the group, I would imagine it’s beneficial in terms of take such a traditional music genre and giving it a modern flavour? Are you all from similar backgrounds?

Yeah we are, I think we’re all pretty avid record collectors; everybody obviously has their own tastes and their own spin on things, but I think the band was definitely founded out of a mutual love for that era of music. You know, even in the tradition of how that music was recorded. I think it’s only natural that when you play together, you put your own spin on it; we’re not in 1968, we’re in 2012 and it’s natural that we’d put our own modern or contemporary feel on it. I think that we’re definitely still rooted in that style. I think that the shows are the most exciting thing about playing in a band that size, you’re working off each other and it’s just a bit of a party! It’s fun!

You’ve shared the stage with the likes of The Bamboos and Roy Ayers, as well as some awesome festival stages too – clearly each of these shows would’ve provided you with unique experiences; do you still find a pang of nerves before each show, or are has being exposed to such large crowds calmed you somewhat?

I don’t think it’s necessarily the size of the crowds that makes me personally nervous; I guess I feel the pressure being the front woman. I think that makes me feel like I need to step up and have that edge, when you know you’re performing in front of somebody that you really respect. Those are some of the most rewarding gigs though.

The Transatlantics are going to be launching the record in Melbourne and Adelaide next month – had you been incorporating much of the new material into recent sets? How have they been sounding live to you guys?

We’re writing a little bit now, so there will definitely be some new material that isn’t on either albums! I think it will be a majority of new tracks from Find My Way Home! I’m really excited. Nothing obvious has changed, but things feel different from the first album we launched. It feels like there’s a real kind of excitement, not just amongst the band, but also amongst people who talk to us. I’m super excited!