Auckland blues/rock band Milly Tabak and the Miltones have released their second album Honest Woman, which has a retro feel.
The five-piece band were looking to bottle the energy of a live performance and they're going old-school, recording the album on tape.
Producer Patrick Hill said using tape gave the music another dimension.
"Tape is like an old film camera, you're getting the same picture but you get fuzzy edges and it's warmer and everything blends together a bit more," he said.
Lead singer Milly Tabak said Hill's mixing made music which "sounded like if you closed your eyes you could see a band in front of you".
She said while making the album she wore her heart on her sleeve.
"I'd lost my dad pretty young," Tabak told Newshub.
"I was grieving for him quite a lot and didn't really know myself and was trying too hard to be so hard to be something for so many other people."
She says she's now learnt how to be true to herself and stick by her convictions.
Now she wants women listening to feel empowered to be themselves in a world full of criticism.
The final product is the album Honest Woman, which was recorded live at Auckland's Roundhead Studios.
Although touring internationally has been restricted by COVID-19, the band will be travelling around New Zealand. Next week they have an album release concert in Auckland and they'll be opening for Dave Dobbyn in September.
"That's going to be really nice to have NZ supporting our southern, American sound," Tabak said.
