New York – Milky Chance is an explosive electro-folk duo out of Germany that welds genres together to produce a sound that’s uniquely theirs, and the work is absurdly and arrestingly good. In fact, this band’s rise to international visibility is equally as halting a thought, considering the group began two short years ago. Since that time, Milky Chance has become a runaway hit abroad, and that momentum is catapulting them to stages worldwide.
The band is musician and vocalist Clemens Rehbein and DJ Philipp Dausch. Though well-known abroad, audiences in North America are late to the party. The group released their debut record, Sadnecessary in late 2013 in Europe via Lichtdicht Records. But the album surfaced a full year later in the U.S. (on Republic), albeit a new edition of the original compilation and in conduction with the band’s latest single, “Flashed Junk Mind.”
The men of Milky Chance became friends in high school, and an artistic collaboration naturally followed suit. Their breakout track is “Stolen Dance” and, as if to cement the band’s impending stardom, was certified gold by the RIAA for digital sales and streams topping 500,000. The song has racked up over 74 million YouTube views to boot. The two even performed the stunning track late last month on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Positive press abounds for this act. Rolling Stone gave Milky Chance blessing by listing the pair alongside “10 Artists You Need to Know Now,” and after Sadnecessary debuted in the U.S., SPIN named it album of the week.
The album’s opener, “Stunner,” begins the record with a bass-heavy, dark and stormy thumper. The cut is quick to stick and, even after digesting the album in full several times over, it’s this track that demands repeating. “Flashed Junk Mind,” the band’s most recently released single, dials the tempo up a notch with a wide variance of guitar parts, crooning melodies and, most importantly, deeply infectious percussion. Delicate backup harmonies and an attitudinal air of nostalgia round out the track.
Of course, the track that catapulted this band to instant stardom abroad is “Stolen Dance.” This is a doozy of a track. Quick riffs and an intricate beat quicken the cut’s composition, while the vocalizing, unhurried and gentle, balances the song into something infectiously Zen.
The percussion, or electronic backbone, of this band is worthy of note. At times, as on the album’s title track, we see Rehbein’s singer-songwriter persona emerge in full force. But that singleness is quickly overturned, or rather turned into, something far more complex. Dausch’s talented production work runs rampant all across this album, and the way it complements Rehbein’s acoustic compositions feels like an artistic imperative.
With Milky Chance, we see with glaring clarity one musician’s talent heightened by the skills of another. Divided, Rehbein and Dausch would produce two categorically different shades of work. But in their coupling, the indulgence of melancholic ballads meets the satiation of electronic sonic construction. Therein lies some strange magic, and it’s a concoction that’s capable of seducing a wide-flung audience of varying tastes.
The band is currently on tour abroad, and will continue through January and February with a bevy of European concert dates. Notably, at the turn of the New Year, the band will play alongside Alt-J, one of Best New Band’s Newbie Award winners for 2014.
Milky Chance will then jump the pond in March for an extensive and tireless North American tour. Get tickets now, because word of this band is spreading like wild fire and tickets are moving fast.
Liz Rowley
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