Rhye

Rhye started out as an international duo that blended chamber pop, R&B, and minimalism for a sound that set them apart from almost everything else emerging in the 2010s. Rhye started out in 2010 when Toronto-born singer/musician Mike Milosh, who had already been recording under his own name for L.A.'s electronic-oriented Plug Research label, began collaborating with Danish artist Robin Hannibal, whose group Quadron had also been making music for the label. Operating out of Los Angeles, the duo crafted a couple of singles, 2012's "Open" and 2013's "The Fall," followed closely by their debut album, Woman. Released on Innovative Leisure in the U.S. and Polydor in the rest of the world, the record utilized hushed chamber-pop arrangements with strings and horns as well as smooth R&B flavors. Milosh's high, androgynous croon, combined with the fact that he and Hannibal initially kept their identities incognito, led some to assume Rhye featured a female singer. The album managed some modest chart placements in both the U.S. and Europe. The second Rhye album, Blood, arrived in 2018, but by this time Hannibal was out of the picture and the project was pretty much solely the creative province of Milosh.