Blood Orange’s Negro Swan is one of 2018’s essential releases
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Blood Orange’s Negro Swan is one of 2018’s essential releases

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The 16-track opus harnesses a darker mood unlike his previous albums, but follows 2016’s Freetown Sound in the nature of its narrative; a lattice of voices and stories from the black/queer community.

Anyone familiar with Blood Orange is aware of the unmistakable sound that is DevHynes –you just know when he has helped write another artist’s song, it is so uniquely his own. It’s hard to put your finger on what it is, as it’s not enough to describe it technically, or scratch it down to a genre or algorithm. This sound is turned on its head in Negro Swan, and true to the repeated motif on the album of being reprimanded for “doing too much” or “doing the most”, it’s as if Hynes set himself the task of fusing elements of several kinds of jazz, hip hop and pop, in the most elegant and expressive way.

‘ChewingGum’ is a perfect example of this, combining A$AP Rocky’s feature verse with ethereal backing vocals, synth chords and finger-picked guitar driven by a slick, fast-paced electro-drum pattern. This impressive blending of invigorating, atmospheric melodies and sounds with some of the most superb, tasteful rhythmic work is everywhere on Negro Swan.

As always, Hynes doesn’t privilege his own voice above others on this record, but rather, can be heard as an omnipresent inner voice, or an eye that guides, empathises, and brings together the communal struggles, passions and longings that he and his fellow guest artists share on this record.

His voice is at its most rich and diverse on this album, and the most gorgeous moments are in his dreamy vocal refrains that resemble a spirit of encouragement or direction. And just as importantly; of pride, of dignity, of acceptance, as he declares with beautiful simplicity on the final pop interlude of the record, ‘Minetta Creek’, “nothing is forgiven, black skin in my rhythm and you know that it’s all that it costs.”

9/10