Rhye Returns To Lull You Into The Sultriest Stupor

Rhye hasn't released an album since its seductive and stellar 2013 debut Woman, but its new single doesn't delay the gratification any further. In fact, it takes all of 10 seconds for Mike Milosh to elicit his first new swoon in "Please," as a gentle stomp-and-clap gives way to the skeletal beginnings of a piano hook, which suddenly disappears from the mix before popping dramatically back into place after a second or two.

From there, "Please" picks up where Woman left off: namely, by draping sweet-voiced pleas for intimacy and connection with vaporous layers of softly shimmering soul. The new song (from an as-yet-unnamed album, due out later this year) is accompanied by Milosh's black-and-white video, which matches Rhye's spare-and-sexy aesthetic in every frame. Putting the video's dancers in everyday white T-shirts instead of showier garb is a nice touch — the lovers in Milosh's songs share the intimate, lived-in familiarity of the already-coupled — as is a newfound willingness to show the singer's face, which in the past has tended to remain unseen, even in live performances.

As for "Please" itself, Milosh writes via email that it's intended to move Rhye's sound in subtly different directions. "Because we play live so much," he writes, "we've built this show that's somewhat different from Woman. It's a little more psychedelic. I wanted to bring that to the second record. I really wanted to incorporate much more soulful and earthy colors. It had to be all live percussion and piano. The human intimacy had to come through the actual instrumentation on this record. 'Please' is the stepping stone to where we're headed."

"Please" and a second song, "Summer Days," are available now via Loma Vista.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.