Milky Chance

Balancing existential dread and sentimental idealism in equal measure,
Milky Chance’s intoxicating new single, “Synchronize,” feels tailor-made for the times, wrestling as it does with hope and despair, fear and desire, commitment and escape. The track’s arrangement is at once vintage and modern, layering a sunny ’60s melody atop a driving electro-pop rhythm section, and the duo’s performance is nothing short of mesmerizing, fueled by breezy guitars, ethereal synthesizers, and a pulsating four-on-the-floor backbeat that grounds the whole thing in a relentless forward momentum. Add it all up and you’ve got a dark, dreamy take on the power of human connection in the face of environmental destruction, one that breaks fresh sonic ground as it finds comfort and shelter in a lover’s embrace.

In the near-decade since launching Milky Chance, guitarist/singer Clemens Rehbein and bassist/percussionist Phillipp Dausch have racked up more than five billion streams, headlined massive sold-out concerts around the world, performed on nearly every late night television show, and played iconic festivals from Coachella and Lollapalooza to Bonnaroo and ACL. “Synchronize” follows the duo’s latest smash single, “Colorado,” which amassed nearly 100 million streams and anchored the pair’s surprise 2021’s release, Trip Tape, which featured a mix of originals, covers, demos, and remixes.