Their bios on Instagram and Spotify describe them as “two high school friends making music.” In some ways, those six words do describe German electro-pop sensation Milky Chance – they speak to the band’s playfulness, humility, and eternal well-spring of creativity and community- but for the most part, those words fall desperately short. First, while the two friends Clemens Rehbein and Philipp Dausch originally made music together in high school, it was in a frickin’ jazz quintet. So when “Stolen Dance” – their first EVER release – took the world by storm, they were well prepared to launch off into stardom. In subsequent releases, the duo expanded their expression and influence without losing the sense of goofy contemplation that allowed them to so freely create original music while reimagining covers like Tame Impala’s “Lost in Yesterday” or Harry Styles’ “As It Was” (both on 2022’s Trip Tape II). In 2023, Milky Chance looks to release their 4th studio album, launch their biggest North American tour ever (66 shows including 48 with Young The Giant), and, oh yeah, continue doing their part to save the planet through their non-profit Milky Change (get it?).
The title track from their June 9 album, Milky Chance’s new single “Living in a Haze” absolutely hits the spot—that particular spot that gets hit with trilling guitars, club beats, and Rehbein’s signature moody growl. For anyone feeling stuck, for anyone wishing they could dance the pain away and wishing they could free themself of all cares, “Living in a Haze” is a reminder that they’re not alone. The band says about the song, “Sometimes you lose track of what’s important, live day by day distracted and don’t really know how to get out of it. At the same time, it seems like everybody around you does not feel that way, life looks so easy when they do it and a desire builds up to have it just like that. So this one’s for all who wanna be able to dance the pain away.”
But first, level up your dance moves with the music video to “Living in a Haze.” The short film follows a similar theme to previous releases by Milky Chance, where we find the band ensconced in a scene prepped to pop off into dance. This particular scene is a music video shoot (a music video inside a music video??), where Rehbein and Dausch serve menial positions in the production, daydreaming about joining in the convivial convulsions on set. When their imaginations takeover, they join the dancers, electrifing the choreography with their own moves and becoming the stars of the show. In the final Fosse-esque pose, they stare into the camera, begging you to join them. Shall we dance?
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