The third album from Germany's
Milky Chance
, 2019's
Mind the Moon
is a burnished, blue-hued production that finds the duo of singer/guitarist
Clemens Rehbein
and singer/bassist
Philipp Dausch
further expanding their eclectic folk and dance-pop sound. As with 2017's
Blossom
, the album again features contributions by guitarist
Antonio Felix Greger
.
have always evinced a love of various global musical traditions and
is no exception, kicking off with the moody and melancholic anthem "Fado." Named after the lyrical Portuguese folk genre, "Fado" is one of the group's most explicit homages to a style outside of their own and manages to capture the essence of the genre while marrying it to a hooky, contemporary pop sensibility. They achieve a similarly successful cross-border alchemy elsewhere, pairing with Belgian singer
Teme Tan
for the Afro-pop/electronica of "Rush" and South Africa's acclaimed vocal ensemble
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
, who supply their warm harmonies on the dusky, bass-driven "Eden's House."
also bring on board Australia's
Tash Sultana
for the mid-tempo reggae number "Daydreaming." In fact, laid-back reggae rhythms underpin much of
, as on the hooky "The Game" and the dub-inflected "Long Run." Aesthetically, the yearning reggae, Afro-pop, and Latin vibes evoke the classic '80s style of artists like
Sting
and
Peter Gabriel
without ever sounding too overtly indebted to any one source. With
,
offer a moon cycle's worth of sustained twilight-hour grooves. ~ Matt Collar