LA alt-R&B outfit Rhye (Mike Milosh, sans Danish producer Ryan Hannibal) recently released “Song For You”, the fourth glimpse of his upcoming sophomore album Blood (February 5, 2018). As with previous tracks - “Taste,” “Please", and “Count To Five” - the duo stick to the warm, intimate and disarming “quiet storm soul” that has characterized their output thus far. Milosh’s airy and inviting falsetto occupies your eardrums, backed by chiming pianos, soft guitars, and the occasional orchestral flourishes. It’s not clear if his lover’s pain is physical or emotional, but this demonstration of undivided empathy and attention is wholly reassuring: ‘Mm, you bleed for me/ Bleed for me/ Why don't you tell me what you need? [...] I feel your heart pain/ I feel your pain’.
In a recent interview with NPR, Milosh explained that Rhye’s new album differs from the well-received Woman in terms of artistic process: “We’ve spent the last few years on the road translating the Woman album from a bedroom project into a full live experience. With Blood, it’s been the opposite process; the music and sounds were really born out of the live environment and are built for performance.”
There’s a difference in perspective as well. Milosh’s vocals still merit being described as a “white male Sade”, but the unusual gender-and-perspective-bending on the first album has dissipated. Songs like “Open” blurred the boundary between addressee/muse and addresser/artist, appearing as sonic portraits of striking empathy - one where a man was so aware of his female lover’s emotions and point of view that he could embody them. The songs released thus far are rooted more firmly in Milosh’s perspective and point of view while offering poignant visions of a couple’s most intimate exchanges. There’s hardly any explicit sexual references, but the sensuality, honesty, and vulnerability on full display here effortlessly create the impression of shocking intimacy.
