Dev Hynes - Artist Highlight

It’s very rare to see Dev Hynes without a hat. I mean, from what I’ve gathered online, he’s often wearing a hat, and no matter how hard I try (which, to be fair, was no harder than clicking on the 2nd page of Google Images) I couldn’t find one! I understand the inclination, as for a while I too was a habitual hat wearer, but I tended to keep to one specific hat around that time, where as Dev is much more adept at coordinating a hat with an outfit to create something fashionable. All this is to say, that while he does wear very real hats in every photo my exhaustive (sometimes I click on page 3) research, that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Dev Hynes and the many hats he wears as one of the pre-eminent musical creatives working today.

Though one can imagine his musical education began well into his youth his actual imprint into the greater musical world began in the early to late 00’s with groups like the ‘Test Icicles’ and his first solo iteration as ‘Lightspeed Champion.’ During this time he accumulated and list of musical friends and writing credits that would be the envy of any musician working at the time; this all but guarantees that even if you’ve never heard of Dev Hynes you’ve heard Dev Hynes. He co-wrote, opened for and performed with Florence and the Machine, as well as performed with the likes of Warren Ellis, the Tindersticks, and members of the Artic Monkeys.

The details in the last paragraph alone would be enough of a feather in ones cap (to keep with the hat metaphor) to rest on their laurels a bit and cruise on down the line, but Dev took a new direction and started his next solo project Blood Orange and focused on electronic/R&B/Jazz Fusion experimentation, as well as expanding his list of collaborators (Solange, More Florence and the Machine, Blondie to name a few). This is where he caught my ear, especially with the 2016 release Freetown Sound (the third full release as Blood Orange) which was a stunning and often heartbreak collection of tracks that ran just under an hour and remained fascinating and fresh.

In Freetown Sound we saw a fusion of Jazzy horns, funky and soulful guitars, weeping 80’s synths and wounded-reverb vocals blend together in a way that spoke to not just personal moment of fear and insecurity but an International one. Highlight tracks like ‘E.V.P’ with it’s hopeful chorus (and guest vocals by Deborah Harry herself!), the political and emotional focus of ‘Hands Up’, and bass slaps over a bed of synths on the mournful ‘Juicy 1-4’ made this an album that is both of the times and timeless.

Seen it all before
Could this take too long?
A prayer is all you need
And it's all that was told to me
Stripped of all that's left
Tell me what is right
And never let me ask
If it's all that was told to me

Couldn't see the changes even if I can't explain it
But the presence of a lover with the faces of a mother, it's warm
What is it we're lookin' for if common sense is just the law
And all my teachers, preachers maybe that something is wrong

Mary
Our lady Africa
You promised us a home
But never while we're young
Oh Mary
Our lady Africa
Please don't leave them alone
May your Son's law of love

Dev followed up the astonishing Freetown with the even more personal Negro Swan in 2018, where he continued on a sonic path to explore ideas of belonging, gender, love and acceptance. ‘Charcoal Baby’ swings in with gentle guitars and rising synths and lyrics that fly like a self-interrogation in a bathroom mirror; ‘Chewing Gum’ with its siren-synths and its somewhat jarring but undeniably catchy A$AP Rocky feature; the undeniable and repeat worthy ‘Nappy Wonder’ with its ear worm chorus; this album was every bit as worthy a follow-up to Freetown as could be hoped for. We lost none of the introspection but rather listened as it was turned further inward and granted access into a space that is honest, open, and, most importantly, accepting of all.

I'm riding switch, I can't escape
Future back into the gate
I bust it up on Ilford Lane
I pressure flip it to my grade

I'm riding switch, I can't escape
Future back into the gate
I bust it up on Ilford Lane

My feelings never had no ethics
My feelings never have been ethical
My feelings never had no ethics
My feelings never have been ethical
My feelings never had no ethics
My feelings never have been ethical
My feelings never had no ethics
My feelings never have been ethical

While those two albums are my absolute favorites so far in the Blood Orange discography, that’s not all there is. In 2018 he released the smaller but guest packed album Angel’s Pulse, with the irresistible ‘Dark and Handsome’ and a few tracks featuring the immensely underrated Tinashe like the lovely throw-back groove of ‘Tuesday Feeling (Choose To Stay)’. While jumping in and out of composing for feature films such as ‘Queen and Slim’ and ‘Passing’ (under his full name Devonte Hynes) he also just released 4 Songs, which is a brief collection of some dreamy 80’s edged tracks, ‘Jesus Freak Lighter’, ‘Something You Know,’ ‘Wish,’ and ‘Relax and Run’ which make for, what I hope, is a preamble to a bigger project in the future.

There are so many people I admire make great music these days, but few seem to exude music the same way that Dev Hynes does in all his outings. From his collaborations across genres to the genre blending of Blood Orange and even to his admirably lengthy composing career, there are words, feelings, and thoughts that many of us have issue bringing to words that Dev Hynes communicates effortlessly through his many avenues. He’s an ever present force in the current musical landscape and similar to other super producers like Pharrell and Timbaland, eventually there isn’t going to be a corner of the music world that isn’t touched by him.

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