Milky Chance Sadnecessary on LP

You never know who you're going to meet on the first day of school. Sometimes, you can end up being introduced to one of the best friends you'll ever know. That was the case for Clemens and Philipp - otherwise known as Milky Chance. The Kassel, Germany duo met in an Advanced Music Course at the start of eleventh grade, and they creatively gelled right off the bat. "On that first day, you're looking around the classroom trying to see who's cool and who's not," explains Clemens. "We clicked though. It didn't take long at all for us to notice that we got along great."

They got along so great that they played in a local band until graduation. Even though the group disbanded when their drummer left Kassel, Clemens and Philipp kept on making music. Weaving together elegant electronic production with acoustic guitars and lilting, lush vocals, they harnessed a style unequivocally their own. Clemens put it best, "Think of it as the singer-songwriter spirit mixed with electronic beats. Somehow, it's always a little bit melancholy, but there's a positive spin. You can dance to most of it too! Melancholy is something that I carry within me. I write the best songs when this mood catches me.”

In order to capture that, the boys built a tiny studio in the quiet house Clemens grew up in. Over the course of two weeks in 2013, they cut their full-length debut, Sadnecessary, on a minimalist setup, spending hours getting the settings just right. They didn't need anything more than a rudimentary interface, microphone, and computer. That's why Sadnecessary sizzles so much. "There was never a plan," Clemens adds. "We only played two shows before we decided to make the album. We never bought expensive studio equipment or even hired a producer. We did what we wanted to and what felt good at the moment. We just wanted to record our music. We never thought it would go further than that."

Sadnecessary, released on the musicians' own Lichtdicht Records in Europe, became a phenomenon followed by packed shows around the continent. In early 2014, Republic Records inked a deal with Milky Chance to release the record stateside, opening them up to their largest audience yet. Now, songs like "Down By The River" flow between poetic musing and delightfully danceable grooves. Ultimately, because of that emotional expanse, these songs will resonate loudly with listeners everywhere. 

1.  Stunner

2.  Flashed Junk Mind

3.  Becoming

4.  Running

5.  Feathery

6.  Indigo

7.  Sadnecessary

8.  Down By The River

9.  Sweet Sun

10. Fairytale

11. Stolen Dance

12. Loveland

13. Feathery

14. Loveland