Are Milky Chance a 'one-hit wonder'?

When you hear of a folk infused reggae artist like Milky Chance the thought that first comes to mind is that the combination of those genres is a recipe for disaster. But this is where you are very much mistaken. Milky Chance, a duo originating from Kassel, Germany, travelled to London to perform two consecutively sold out nights at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire.

Their album ‘Sadneccesary’ only peaked to number 14 in Germany and 36 in the United Kingdom. However, they have recently won the European Border Breakers Award for best album. As well as their YouTube hit from the album ‘Stolen Dance’ going to number one in eight countries worldwide and ‘Down by the River’ which was re-released as a single featuring as one of the FIFA 15 soundtracks.

Singer Clemens Rehbein and his DJ school mate Philipp Dausch made for a formidable pairing as they performed a delectable mix of their catchy sounds that surpassed any on-the-fence expectations. Despite the electronic aspect to Milky Chance’s music Dean and I were probably the liveliest out of the crowd. Rehbein sang many of the songs such as Flashed Junk Mind and Stunner with much more of a raspier tone to his voice which doesn’t exactly portray Rehbein as one of the best singers in the business but it compliments the songs well, and it has a really great uniqueness to it working to his advantage. Rehbein and Dausch were joined by another man, whom we didn’t quite catch his name. He played guitar and was very talented on the harmonica, which helped to add to the soulfulness of the performance.

Eventhough, Milky Chance isn’t in my top 5 artists to listen to at any given opportunity, it still didn’t stop Dean and I from being thoroughly entertained. As a lover of many different genres I would say folk reggae would not be the first genre I would turn to but after hearing their hit ‘Stolen Dance’, I heard the rest of their album and I was really impressed, and insisted on doing a review for them. However, despite two sold out gigs at one of London’s hottest venues for up and coming artists I cannot see Milky Chance widening their audience any further than they already have done. Unlike Sam Smith or Hozier who are going from strength to strength and are not showing any sign of weakness. It seems clear to me that Milky Chance are a ‘one hit wonder’ as without Stolen Dance taking off and Down by the River featuring on one of the biggest video games, they would not have done nearly as well as they have. Don’t get me wrong, they put on a great night but would I hurry back to see them again?

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