Devonté Hynes, better known in the music/arts world as Blood Orange, takes time between his album releases, and in my opinion, this is one of his most admirable qualities. He gives the listeners years to revisit older albums, and meticulously crafts his genuine and attractive version of hazy R&B, indie art rock, and experimental jazz. The last time we had a Blood Orange album was with 2018’s Negro Swan, but now we have Essex Honey, which, with every listen (I’m at about 12 now?), has me thinking this might be his tightest album to date. This album started with an idea—how does Hynes think about his childhood home in England? Then his mother died in 2023, and the album became more of an eclectic visage of grief and home.
Hynes has still been making music since 2018, featuring as a guest vocalist, co-writer and producer for artists like Daniel Caeser, Caroline Polachek and Lorde—all three of which are on Essex Honey. Blood Orange’s music has this arresting quality to it; a way of completely encapsulating these cinematic-type moments that have moments of bass and dance, frenetic indie, and gospel-esque R&B. The opener “Look At You” shifts from a subtle beats dance track to a piano ballad to a lo-fi bedroom pop sample, and it all somehow works. Hynes also has a background in classical arrangement and piano, a skill he flexes during the second track “Thinking Clean,” which again, starts as something—a lo-fi R&B piano-led track and morphs into a brief, funky art rock groove—all to end with a distorted cello solo? Just weird and magical.
I could review moments from each track on Essex Honey, such as the new wave-y Smiths-esque bass backing on “Somewhere in Between,” the saloon rock harmonica, and the atmospheric saxophone solo, but I would be here forever. We’re only three songs in of this 14-song album. So I’ll pick out a few more, because really, you must experience the full thing yourself to feel the majesty Hynes has created.
“The Field” features a leading sample of The Durutti Column’s acoustic masterpiece, “Sing To Me,” and has major backing vocals from Caroline Polachek, Daniel Caeser, and Tariq Al-Sabir, and of course, Hynes. The drum machine beat gives it a neo soul vibe, something to dance with as the heat of the sun dwindles down. Polachek comes back, this time with Lorde of “Mind Loaded,” which has the is baroque vibe with strings, piano, and some of the most pleasing falsettos I’ve ever heard, which I think come from Lorde? It’s hard to tell, because Hynes is a master at blending vocal structures together into one entity. He does so again on “Countryside,” a hazy and calming mix with vocals from Eva Tolkin, Liam Benzi, and Ian Isiah. Later on, we get “The Train (King’s Cross),” which with the lead acoustic guitar chords and arpeggiated electric guitar might be the fastest song on Essex Honey. Again, Hynes and Polachek’s voices are married into one harmonized mass. And a crazy fuzzed out, but brief lead guitar to end the track? Just perfection. There are so many little moments on this album that all deserve their own reviews.
