Home

Two of the singles Michael Milosh released ahead of Home had more dancefloor zest than anything off Blood, his previous Rhye album. "Black Rain" started with a somewhat "Billie Jean"-like beat and curlicued strings -- the latter deployed like the second coming of disco revivalists Faze Action -- and turned up the heat with some dramatic thrusts. Milosh finessed the change well enough that the song would've sounded just like Rhye even as an instrumental, without his characteristic sighing vocals and persuasive lyrics. Just before Home was released, Rhye entered Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for the first time as a headliner with "Come In Closer," a lighter number making greater use of the strings and a touch of funk in the bass line. Those two songs, plus a third Roland LeFox collaboration -- the finely woven "Sweetest Revenge," which with its snaking bass line evokes Kleeer's mid-'80s slow jam classic "Intimate Connection" -- ensure that Home is at once unmistakably Rhye and an obvious progression. Milosh's approach as a songwriter and vocalist hasn't changed much. He's still addressing his lover, gently coaxing and assuring her, letting her know how he feels, communicating at all times on an intimate level. Throughout are references to (quiet) storms, waves, and rain made with literal and metaphorical purposes. The prevailing sense of solace (home indeed) is felt deepest in "Come In Closer," where Milosh welcomes a visitor with "You made it through these rough waters, and your hair's still wet/Come in from the cold." The songs made with Blood collaborators such as Itai Shapira, Nate Mercerau, and Ben Schwier aren't retreads, either, still fleet but considerably heftier, as if the word "dainty" was drawn with a slash through it and posted on the walls of each studio where they worked. Another element that sets this apart from Milosh's earlier work is the Danish National Girls Choir, whose recurring presence is stirring rather than the cloying distraction it could have been. This being the Rhye album with the most layers, Milosh was wise to employ the brilliant Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, the Killers) as mixing engineer. Every change pays off. ~ Andy Kellman