Rhye – Home

Canadian singer, producer, multi-instrumentalist Michael Milosh a/k/a Rhye founded the collective back in 2012 and after “Woman” (2012), “Blood” (2017), and “Blood Remixed” (2018), has now come up with a new set of mysterious, ethereal, haunting tunes on “Home”. His signature falsetto vocals, sort of a trademark, at times just come across as a whisper, like on “Need A Lover”, and the spare instrumentation with piano, guitar, and lush strings, probably best describes this album as an overall yearning experience, as a desire fulfilled, or not.

The 47 minutes drift by effortlessly, sometimes veering more towards R&B, like on the beautiful “Helpless” which also boasts with a strong vocal arrangement and an abrupt ending, sometimes more towards soul and disco, complete with handclaps and thick keyboard cushions on “Black Rain”, throwing you straight back to the early to mid 80s. The drums here are pretty cool, too. Some driving beats help to keep the album away from becoming too gentle, too mellow, with drums and strings orchestrating an almost dramatic-sounding “Sweetest Revenge”. The handclaps are back again for this tune. As they are for “My Heart Bleeds”, another 80s throwback, a gently grooving swayer with some Benny Sings-like vocals and formidable keys (including the wonderful Wurlitzer).

But even during this intimate set, Milosh manages to come up with varying degrees of ambiance and temper. On “Fire”, an acoustic piano-led ballad, the mood is tender and delicate, on “Safeword” upbeat and almost cheerful. But it’s this syndication of strings (the cello is prominently featured throughout), otherworldly vocals, handclaps and well thought-out backdrops on pieces like “Come In Closer”, which just draws you into another world. And the way he combines his tunes with Maxwell-like R&B gems like “Holy”, only adds to the excitement and the spirituality with an added choir. A choir, incidentally, the 49-piece Danish National Girls’ Choir, closes the set on a celestial note, fairy-like, slowly letting go of the warm embrace which started with an empathetic intro at the beginning of this album.

By the way, the album is available as an exclusive purple double vinyl with a gatefold sleeve and as a regular black vinyl edition.