Negro Swan

AlbumAug 24 / 201816 songs, 49m 34s
Alternative R&B Sophisti-Pop
Popular Highly Rated

Speaking to *The Guardian*, British singer-songwriter-producer Dev Hynes described his fourth LP under the Blood Orange name as “an exploration into my own and many types of black depression, an honest look at the corners of black existence, and the ongoing anxieties of queer/people of color.” Recorded on-the-go in studios around the world (Tokyo, Florence, Copenhagen) with whatever was lying around at the time (“If I go to a studio and they only have an acoustic guitar, then I’ll go with that.”), *Negro Swan* splices Hynes’ impressionistic R&B with recorded conversation and spoken word, the most haunting snippets taken from writer and transgender-rights activist Janet Mock (“Family”) and a surprisingly vulnerable Puff Daddy (“Hope”). The result is dreamy but incisive, melancholic but alive, lonesome but communal. “When you wake up/It’s not the first thing you wanna know,” he sings on “Charcoal Baby,” a highlight. “Can you still count/All the reasons that you’re not alone?”

Producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter and vocalist Devonte Hynes returns with his fourth album as Blood Orange, Negro Swan. Raised in England, Hynes started out as a teenage punk in the UK band Test Icicles before releasing two orchestral acoustic pop records as Lightspeed Champion. In 2011, he released Coastal Grooves, the first of three solo albums under the moniker Blood Orange. His last album, Freetown Sound, was released to critical acclaim in 2016, and saw Hynes defined as one of the foremost musical voices of his time, receiving comparisons to the likes of KendrickLamar and D’Angelo for his own searing and soothing personal document of life as a black man in America. He has collaborated with Solange Knowles, FKA Twigs, and many other artists, and was recently one of four artists invited to the Kennedy Center to perform alongside Philip Glass. In addition to his production work, he scored the film Palo Alto, directed by Gia Coppola and starring James Franco. Hynes’ newest album, Negro Swan, was written and produced by Hynes. Says Hynes: "My newest album is an exploration into my own and many types of black depression, an honest look at the corners of black existence, and the ongoing anxieties of queer/people of color. A reach back into childhood and modern traumas, and the things we do to get through it all. The underlying thread through each piece on the album is the idea of HOPE, and the lights we can try to turn on within ourselves with a hopefully positive outcome of helping others out of their darkness."

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7.6 / 10

Dev Hynes’ fourth album as Blood Orange focuses on black depression, sketching his anxious alt-pop, progressive R&B, indie hip-hop, downtempo rock, and spacey chillwave into a minimalist emulsion.

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Controlling the context of your creation is something of a fantasy for any artist, but especially a Black artist. Though we remain the wellspring of culture in America, the musings of Black people are never just left for us alone. Yet it is precisely this control of narrative that makes Blood Orange such a singular…

8 / 10

Opening to the ambient sounds of New York traffic, ‘Negro Swan’ is another fantastic chapter in the career of music polymath Dev Hynes.

9 / 10

The past few years have seen Dev Hynes become one of the most prominent, important voices in pop, and his new album builds upon this legacy

8.8 / 10

Devonté “Dev” Hynes of Blood Orange knows that well.

Interpol - Marauder

Dev Hynes delivers praise songs to self-realization and fluidity, with help from Janet Mock, A$AP Rocky, P-Diddy and others.

Not the most immediate listen, but undoubtedly one with real weight.

Dev Hynes has acquired the laidback air of a cat who once chased his tail but now finds he can capture it simply by curling into a ball

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8 / 10

Ascribing authorship and meaning are music critics' bread and butter, so it's a bit of a stick in the eye when artists go out of their way t...

7.0 / 10

What exactly is wrong with Devonté Hynes? On paper, he appears to have all the makings of a pop genius.

8 / 10

Devonté Hynes is a musical polymath. Emerging in the 00’s as part of the noise pop group Test Icicles, after their collapse he skewed into

(Domino)

9 / 10

Blood Orange dives deeper into the black experience on fourth album 'Negro Swan' - Dev Hynes' most energetic and subdued work to date.

Negro Swan is Blood Orange’s most assured, accomplished, and significant album to date.

9.0 / 10

Blood Orange creates a Gorillaz-like nexus for amazing creativity in our review of the surprisingly dense but suave 'Negro Swan'

Dev Hynes’ latest feels like a collective effort, packed with guests and detail, but there are too many switches in tack

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Personal, searing and close to the bone.

Dev Hynes returns with a little help from his famous friends on another strong outing

8 / 10