RHYE
RnB and soul emotiveness sliced with jazz sensibilities
The duo has assembled a full band to tackle Friday headline duties at the Field of Heaven. They may be sold as a R’n’B band but their live show is anything but that. Borrowing equally from R’n’B, soul and jazz, each song organically grows and evolves. This is helped by their strong string presence with violin and electric cello both rising to take over some songs and further distinguish their sound as unique.
Milosh’s high contralto voice is precise and yearning. Rarely for this genre, he’s not afraid to let the instruments show off though, which they do so with frequency. The highlight of the set is their new song “Waste”. This strips the band’s sound right back for a minimalist, mournful start that slowly slides instruments in and out. It quietly grows into a full song, lulling users with Milosh’s smoldering voice before the song fades out just as quietly.
The band plays emotive yet intelligent music that flips and melds genre as it pleases. They seem to enjoy playing with cliches from the genre before veering them off in unexpected ways like diving deep into slow burning instrumental passages straight from choruses, with guitar stuttering and pinching until violin flickers lines of melody until they become a fire. Rhys’s set was definitely a step-up from the normal jamband headliner the Field of Heaven is stuck with and shows that the future of the R’n’B genre is bright indeed.
