RELEASED 22ND JANUARY 2021

Favourite track: Need A Lover

The vocals are the kind to totally chill you out as they blend perfectly with the instruments.  

Again, I hadn’t heard of Rhye until I came across Home consisting of 13 tracks and cover art depicting a face in a with hair blowing over it covering the features with a backdrop of muted colour tones and silhouettes of trees. If I’m to take anything from the Spotify bio, skilled song-writing, R&B influences and gorgeous instrumentals is something I should expect from their music, which is exactly the kind of music I love. It was interesting to learn that Rhye was originally a duo but then soon evolved to be Canadian artist, Mike Milosh, along with the live band too.

The album opens with a fitting song ‘Intro’ which is choral harmonies building and layering with a slow but haunting melody. It was really well arranged, calming and made a nice start to the album. The next track ‘Come In Closer’ opened with chilled bass and falsetto from Mike (I’m assuming) and a light drum kit beat mixed with some synth keys played here and there. I love the piano addition to this and staccato strings in places. His voice really is the star of the show. ‘Beautiful’ opens with strings and then bursts into a Funk sound (especially with the bass and drum kit) mixed with Chill synths subtly in the background. It’s slow and dedicated as he repeats “spend some time with me” to his subject. ‘Safeword’ opens more energetically but keeps that retro Funk style with electronic elements – it kind of gave me Tame Impala vibes with the melody and instruments. I like the addition of strings here too, I think it definitely adds variety to it.

‘Hold You Down’ opens with more subtle synths, a slow drum kit beat and bass guitar. The vocals are very slow and focused. There’s almost a kind of brassy synth that comes in too which I really think works well here to break up what might have been quite a one-level song. ‘Need A Lover’ opens with dreamy acoustic guitar and gorgeous vocals. This one is gentle and melancholic and the strings were much needed to add to the mood here. ‘Helpless’ opens with your staple retro synths, choral vocals and then an 80s style Funk bass and cutting synth. It still manages to create a very chilled atmosphere. ‘Black Rain’ starts with a stronger beat and then dramatic string and quite bass. It’s got a more obvious rhythm here and stop-start element which allows the music to burst. ‘Sweetest Revenge’ has lovely piano sounds going on with a bass but consistent, present beat. The strings make it another melancholic one as he repeats “I’m so in love with my pain”. ‘My Heart Bleeds’ opens nicely with a stronger drum kit beat (almost a bit Jazz café with the soft piano) and synth touch. I like this one and think the instrumentals here are allowed to show off but really do blend nicely with the vocals.

‘Fire’ opens with piano and a very quiet beat and strange hissing FX that off-sets the peaceful element. I love the way he sings this one. ‘Holy’ actually has more of an RnB drum kit beat to it and the vocal FX work well adding another element to the existing beat and piano. The deeper piano works very well with the introduction of the passionate vocals. The final track makes the album very much a book (cover to cover with choral music despite the middle being a collection of chilled, dedicated songs blended with Funk and RnB elements) and this choral arrangement is stunning.

Has a lot of retro sounds mixed with a delicate falsetto vocal so if you want to chill out this is probably the album to have on.