CONCERT REVIEW: Rhye

The enigmatic Canadian-Danish duo Rhye, that some have described as “like Sade meets The XX”, released their first debut album Woman last March, and just recently embarked on their second U.S. tour. Taking the emerging, Maryland-based project Ricky Eat Acid with them, the group paid Royale Boston another visit last week to play some of their best-known songs and promote their album.

Ricky Eat Acid, a largely ambient project, opened for the headlining act with a hypnotic performance. The band played a couple of their digital-meets-organic tracks from their latest album, Three Love Songs, an assembly of spoken word recordings, waves of guitar feedback and slow-paced rhythms. Rhye took over the stage soon afterwards. As the six-piece ensemble on stage attempted to replicate the dense sound through Woman by producer Robin Hannibal, the duo’s lead vocalist, Mike Milosh requested absolute silence from the audience.

Woman is timeless and sophisticated, intimate and delicate, so it is not surprising that this request was made. It was a fair request, too. In the crowd of silence, one could finally get lost in Milosh’s voice, captivating and gentle (and often mistaken for a woman’s), backed by a perfectly complementing ensemble of musicians. The accompaniment gave the performance a slightly experimental feel too, through extended instrumentals and a mesmerizing trombone solo to the latter half of “Last Dance” that was not featured in the album. Between the disco sound of “The Fall” and the smooth-jazz “One of Those Summer Days”, the songs kept a stripped down sound that is at once fragile and beautiful.

Ricky Eat Acid’s first vinyl album Three Love Songs, was released late January, and Rhye’s first album, Woman, was released in the U.S. last March. If you like Rhye, definitely check out Milosh’s new solo LP, Jetlag that was released last November. Check out the track “Open” below and let us know what you think in the comments section!