Posted by Rhye remains a talent that is impossible to pin down. Luxurious new album ‘Home’ revels in comfort, patching those distinctive orchestral flourishes against a vocal style that dwells on beauty, while eschewing gender norms.
Songs seem to float past, a perfume-like aura that subtly overwhelms, while leaving distinct marks on the listener. His first album in two years, Michael Milosh returns to the Rhye moniker with something special, a distilled, nuanced work, finely contoured while hoing in on the essence of his artistry.
The highlights trip off the tongue: piano raindrops permeate ‘Helpless’, while ‘Come In Closer’ specialises in subtlety. ‘Hold You Down’ feels as though you are watching a Pointillist painting come into focus, its Impressionistic hues shimmering out of the speakers.
Disregarding form and embracing feeling, ‘Home’ is a portrait of lockdown’s more comforting characteristics – revelling in the familiar, in the ties that bind, it’s about coming to know yourself for the first time. ‘Black Rain’ has an almost disco-like beat, upping the tempo amid that balm-like array of plaintive sonics.
Closing with the soulfully spiritual ‘Holy’, Rhye reconstitutes the meditations of Marvin Gaye from a modern perspective, his church-like pleas locating messages of redemption and renewal in the most difficult of circumstances. Melodic yet open and exploratory, it’s a striking, powerhouse performance, one that expertly ties together the mellifluous aural strands that dominate his new album.
A record that allows itself space to shfit and evolve, ‘Home’ is both airy and immersed in strong roots. A Canadian in Los Angeles, Rhye is proof that ‘Home’ is where the heart is.
8/10
Words: Robin Murray
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