Rhye talks embracing the future on "joyous" new album BLOOD

For Rhye’s debut album, 2013’s subtle and silky-smooth Woman, little was known of the band’s identity. Despite that, the record’s minimal funk-meets-lounge-pop sound was a hit with critics and audiences alike that saw them tour extensively across the globe. The album's two big singles, Open and The Fall, have been streamed a combined 5.7 million times in the UK, according to Official Charts Company data. 

For album two, BLOOD, the one-time duo is now a one-man-band operation in US singer/songwriter/musician Mike Milosh. And while his veil of anonymity may have slipped in the five years since Woman's release, the focus remains firmly on the music - and early singles Taste and Please indicate it's still very much of the warm, tender and seductive kind. 

"There’s not this celebrity status or image that I have to live up to, because I’ve never really put that forth," Mike told us when we phoned him up for a chat. "It’s just about songs and people hopefully connecting to them. I don’t feel that much pressure around [the second album], I’m just super happy that that it’s coming out because it took a lot of time. A lot happened between the two records.”

Label politics meant that after parting ways with Polydor after Woman, Mike was forced to buy out an option (i.e pay for the right) to make a second Rhye album. He admits it "took a lot of energy" but, "in a weird way I’m glad I didn’t rush out another record because, really, I feel this is the record I wanted to make. I knew it was completed when I finished it, I don’t feel strange about it – in fact I feel really content about it. It has all the colours I wanted on it.”

Recorded on the road, BLOOD arrives 18 months after Mike reportedly split from actor Alexa Nikolas, his wife of four years. He describes the sombre opener, Waste, as being about "leaving a past behind", but says BLOOD is otherwise a "joyous" album. 

"This is not a break up record," he insists. "There’s a lot of optimism on it. There are songs about falling in love with someone new, rediscovering myself, moving on with life in general. It also ties into – this sounds cliché – but the trials and tribulations of the music industry. Ultimately, it’s joyous and embracing the future. Some of the melodies might sound a bit sad, but I think that’s just my nature."

Mike says he won't reveal the meaning behind the album's title ("I’ll allow that to be something people can make up and put their own identity with it"), but noted that its unintentional popping up in several of the songs - only discovered after the record was completed - helped his decision. 

Song For You is one of the tracks on BLOOD Mike says he feels particularly satisfied with. He explains: "When I was making it, it made me feel the emotions that I was looking for from a song. When I played it to my friends and girlfriend, everyone seemed to share the same emotions to it. People were crying, but they were sort of happy at the same time.

"I didn’t set a goal for myself with the record, but watching people listen to it completely satisfies what I’m trying to do."

BLOOD by Rhye is out now.

Article image: Genevieve Medow Jenkins