Album Review: Essex Honey by Blood Orange

Dev Hynes translates themes of loss and grief into a compelling and ultimately uplifting musical whole Essex Honey is a surprise album release for Devonté Hynes, his fifth under the Blood Orange alias. A producer who seems to have new music coming out of his ears, Hynes is a serial inventor, acknowledged on an increasingly long list of illustrious album credits. His own music tends to retreat from the spotlight, and in this case backs away from traditional pop music structures and techniques (his former guises include Lightspeed Champion and being part of Test Icicles).

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It's been a minute for Blood Orange. The group — which is basically British-born, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter-producer-multi-instrumentalist Dev Hynes and whoever he's brought along for the ride — was one of the bright lights of the early-mid 2010s, creating a vibrant fusion of R&B, alternative and pop, and Hynes simultaneously contributed widely to songs by Tinashe, Solange, Sky Ferreira, FKA Twigs, Lorde, A$AP Rocky, Mac Miller and Argentine-Spanish singer Nathy Peluso (their song "El Día Que Me Perdí Mi Juventud" even won a Latin Grammy). Related Stories 'Sinners' Director Ryan Coogler and Artist Mary Corse to Be Honored at LACMA Art+Film Charlie Sheen on How a Drug Dealer Helped Save His Life and Wanting a 'Two and a Half Men' Reunion: 'It Would Be a Gift to the Fans' More recently he's written and performed classical compositions and did several film and TV scores, but it's been seven years since the last Blood Orange album, even though his 2011 song "Champagne Coast" belatedly became a TikTok-powered smash more than a decade after its release.

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It's been seven years since Dev Hynes's last release as Blood Orange, when 'Negro Swan' forewent much of the commercial song structures of stunning predecessor 'Freetown Sound' and, somewhat naturally, leaned fully into the unpredictability of in-studio exploration. Subsequent writing, production or feature credits on the likes of fellow experimentalists The Avalanches, Porches and contemporary immersive powerhouse Blackhaine have since paved the way for the even more expansive 'Essex Honey' - in part a collection of songs, but perhaps more a vast exploration of sound alongside some of Dev's nearest and dearest. Underpinned by his distinctive hushed vocals, the compositions are deliberately unpredictable, jumping into strings, electronic beats, and chimes at a moment's notice.

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The first memory I have of my nan dying is being far from home when it happened. It's not like that for everyone. Some people remain in the place they were born forever. Some names never get printed on passport pages. That's just the way it is. Others, though, leave young. They empty their ….

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After six years, Blood Orange -- the alias of British singer-songwriter and producer Dev Hynes -- has released a new album, 'Essex Honey'. Since his debut album 'Coastal Grooves' in 2011, Hynes has been highly regarded for his influence as a producer and multi-instrumentalist, working with artists ranging from rappers to pop icons. While much of his previous work explored themes of identity, community, and resilience through a hopeful lens, 'Essex Honey' marks a deliberate departure into more solitary territory.

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Blood Orange's 2013 breakthrough, Cupid Deluxe, was so indelible in part for how it swung between moments of funky elation and utter malaise, often during the course of a single song. Dev Hynes's last album under the moniker, 2018's Negro Swan, was more consistently dour, and the alt-R&B pioneer's follow-up, Essex Honey, burrows even deeper into melancholy. While Hynes lyrically explores loss, memory, and loneliness, he still finds ways to elegantly break through the fog with moments of joy, ecstasy, and comfort.

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