Rhye's Mike Milosh on how Earth, Wind & Fire inspired his new album

It's been five years since Rhye released its debut album, Woman, a soothing, sensual collection of soft soul songs that drew comparisons to Sade and garnered critical acclaim upon its release.

Fronted by Toronto singer/producer Mike Milosh, who co-wrote every song with Danish producer Robin Hannibal, the album fit into what was then the beginning of wave of press-shy musicians mysteriously releasing music and then stepping back, allowing the songs to speak for themselves.

Since then, Hannibal departed Rhye and Milosh has been busy touring Woman with a new group of musicians, but we've heard very little in terms of new music. In 2017, that changed with the announcement of a new album, Blood, out Feb. 2.

The recently released "Song for You," the fourth single off the album, is described by Milosh as the sonic and thematic centrepiece for Blood.

"'Song for You' was written for her. Listen to it in a way where it becomes your own," he says in a press release. "It holds a lot of emotion and occupies a special place both in my heart and as the heart of this new album."

An affecting, heartfelt ballad built around a looping guitar line and understated drums, Milosh's signature falsetto floats above the arrangement that builds to include strings and horns as he reflects on what it is to know someone intimately. "I feel your heart baby, I feel your pain," he repeats as the song draws to a close.  

"I am really interested in the way the sonics create this really comforting feeling," he says over the phone. "I want to make my voice as soothing and comforting as possible. That's what I'm drawn to in music, the stuff that seems cathartic."

A happy side-effect of this approach, he says, is his ability to sing his friends' toddlers to sleep.

"A lot of my friends have been asking me to make a 'put your baby to sleep' album," he says, only half jokingly. "I have this song and the lyrics are, 'you're getting sleepy now' — that's all the lyrics are — and they just repeat. I have this melody it drones along and it just works." 

Blood was recorded entirely in L.A., where Milosh currently lives, and is described as a deeply personal and artistic reflection.

"From start to finish, everything is an evolution of where I'm going," he says. "It's my life, how it's been evolving for the last couple of years. The way I approach all music is, it's always personal. Some songs are heavier or some are super light, some are joyous and some are kind of like expressing a sexual prowess, while others are almost apologetic. Then there are other songs that are personal in the way that I probably wouldn't discuss them with people."

The songs on Blood also have a distinctly analogue feel to them, which is due in part to a focus on writing songs with the distinct purpose of performing them live in mind. That, plus the studio they were recorded in .

"My bass player acquired Earth Wind & Fire's studio," he says. "A pretty nice place in Los Angeles and I've brought a lot of my gear there. … It has one of the best live drum tones of any studio I've ever been to. It really kind of embodies my desire to create a record that feels like the music that I used to like a lot when I was younger. It's almost '70s in it's tonality or it's quality, just because of the room that we're recording in, which is this beautiful wood room that was designed to get this tone."

It's part of his approach to create music that's not singles based, but instead made to last.

"The intention is very pure and it's very honest, things that have happened in my life, and I guess I just hope that it does something for people and it moves them in a way that they want to hear it again, not just throw it away," he says. "I don't want to make fast food."

Rhye's second album, Blood, is out Feb. 2. The band will be kicking off on a tour that includes stops in Montreal and Toronto in March.