Even with sound and content changing here and there, Devonté Hynes still stays true to himself when it comes to his whole approach to making music. In the past, under the name of Lightspeed Champion, he already tried to unfold unfitting lyrics in mainstream genre-convention, pouring his mad and angry elegies of separation into orchestral folk-sounds. On his third record released as Blood Orange he finally seems to have settled on his favorite topics while at the same time having arrived in New York for good. A valid indicator for this thesis can be found when looking at the prominently casted guest list, consisting of Debbie Harry, Nelly Furtado and many more. Dev Hynes seems to have oriented on the Dust Brothers’ great sample records, and really, »Freetown Sound« is something like an alternative »Paul’s Boutique«: neo-R’n’B on hip-hop-beats, only with soul-lyrics instead of raps. With a good portion of saxophone and even more feeling, Blood Orange is singing about racism and sexism, although in the style of soft Michael-Jackson-ballads. Cuddle-soul has hardly ever been this political. Or rather: You won’t have heard a musical approach to discrimination based on race or gender in the U.S. today sound this sexy. In addition, the chosen form – it could be a mix-tape or a radio show, considering the spoken words between tracks merging into one another – with re-appearing melodies suits this breathlessly exciting record remarkably well.
Yukimi
For You
Ninja Tune