Rhye/ Blood On Rhye's 2013 debut album Woman, Toronto vocalist Mike Milosh and Copenhagen multi-instrumentalist/producer Robin Hannibal crafted a collection of sensual, soft-focus tunes that explored the deeper facets of relationships and physical intimacy.
The record had such a signature sound that it quickly became one of the few key players of the then emerging indie R&B scene. Its subsequent success sent Rhye touring around the world, headlining major music festivals including Thailand's own Wonderfruit back in 2015.
After intense, non-stop touring and the departure of Hannibal, Milosh took whatever material he wrote while on the road and went back to the studio to start working on what to become their second full-length, Blood. Equipped now with a full band, Rhye sounds brighter and more fleshed out, yet still retaining much of the warmth and sensuality that's simply breath-taking.
Opening track Waste leads the charge with a familiar dose of languid minimalism. "Such a waste/ I'm waiting out this time/ Such a waste/I'm feeling all of this now," he sings over the ripple of synths and horns. "So many ways to turn this all around/So many ways to make those hidden things found." This, along with other slow-burning tracks like Please, Stay Safe and Softly, are welcome remnants from Woman, and should sit well with those who appreciate Rhye's softer, more quiet side.
The other half of the record, we get to see Milosh and crew shaking loose a bit. Taste could easily pass off as The xx track if his vocals were removed. Seemingly influenced by electronic music, Feel Your Weight features the bassline that recalls Caribou's Can't Do Without You. Count To Five arrives with satisfying smooth funk coupled with bittersweet lyrics ("We're running out this fable/The scene's becoming clear/But can you feel the heat in here/The sweat off my tears").
Most fans know that a big part of Rhye's appeal lies in Milosh's opulently androgynous vocals, which have been compared to those of queen of quiet storm Sade. That voice shines the brightest on lush R&B tracks like Song For You, Blood Knows and the funk-infused Phoenix. Final number, Sinful, finishes off with the proverbial fireworks as folk guitar collides with dramatic strings. It's a definitely an outlier as far as Rhye's entire discography is concerned and, hopefully, this signals the musical direction the band is exploring on their next output.
While still firmly rooted in their fusion of smooth soul and down tempo R&B, Blood moves at a slightly quicker pace than its predecessor. The overall production here packs more grooves, colors, and vitality. On top of it all, there's also a sense of playfulness fittingly conveyed through disco/funk basslines, not to mention sexually-charged lyricism that could potentially make the guys from Cigarettes After Sex blush.
THE PLAYLIST
Yellow Fang/ Blanket (Yaak Lab Remix)
If you've been following Yellow Fang's music videos from the beginning, you probably know that these girls have a soft spot for all things retro (their latest video for If Only was made in the style of '80s soap opera). To keep this aesthetic rolling, they have teamed up with producer Yaak Lab for a remix of Blanket, a cut off their 2013 debut full-length The Greatest. The result is an upbeat rework rich in auto-tuned vocals and sumptuous synths.
Iggy Azalea/ Savior
Aussie artist Iggy Azalea has dropped new single Savior, a collaboration with Georgia rapper Quavo, in the latest attempt to restore her pop relevancy following two lukewarm singles (Switch and Mo Bounce) last year. Set to generic dancehall-lite beats, the song interpolates Lisa Stansfield's 1989 hit All Around the World and finds Azalea in a less boisterous mode as she reflects on recent life struggles: "I feel like God playin' tricks on me. I'm just try'na get to heaven/Hope you got a ticket for me."
James Blake/ If the Car Beside You Moves Ahead
Given recent his collaborations with pop and rap behemoths Beyonce, Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar, it's easy to forget that James Blake had started off as an amazing sonic experimentalist. His latest single, If the Car Beside You Moves Ahead, sees Blake returning to the post-dubstep stylings of his earlier works while also pushing the envelope a bit further through extreme vocal manipulation. "If the car beside you moves ahead/As much as it might feel as though you're dead/You're not going backwards," he sings over brooding synths, his vocals chopped up and pitch-shifted to glitched-out fragments. There's an underlying sense of disquiet here that will stay with you long after the song ends.
Nilufer Yanya/ Thanks 4 Nothing
Rising London singer Nilufer Yanya has been making waves since the release of last year's Baby Luv and EP Plant Food. Having been longlisted in the BBC's Sound of 2018, Yanya gains further momentum with her latest, Thanks 4 Nothing. Over gentle pop-jazz production, she gets real with her ex, essentially telling him what's done is done. "This is the end/I don't think we can be friends … I don't want to make things better/Thanks for nothing …" sings the 22-year-old artist, her nonchalance betrayed only by the tension-building guitar solo.
Lykke Li/ Time in a Bottle
Taking some time off of her supergroup LIV, Swedish songstress Lykke Li is back to concentrate on her solo material. Released four years since 2014's I Never Learn, Time in a Bottle is a cover of Jim Croce's '70s folk classic of the same name. "If I could make days last forever/If words could make wishes come true/I'd save every day like a treasure and then/Again, I would spend them with you," she croons over a lo-fi production, retaining much of the wistful melancholia of the original.
